A Proper Black
by rene3037769
Summary: Fenrir was on a mission to finish what the Dark Lord could not. What he found is not what he expected. Just who is Harry Potter? NON-CANON.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

{Parseltongue}

Warning: This is not even remotely cannon, not even a little bit.

Fenrir Greyback stalked through the streets of Surrey under the full moon. He did not bother to contain the growl that continuously rumbled through his chest, causing small animals to dart away in fear. Dogs cowered behind their fences in the hope that the angry alpha canine would not turn his attention onto them.

Fenrir just ignored everything as he continued to stalk through the shadows. He had long ago accepted his wolf and was able to transform without losing himself during the full moons. He did not even spare a glance for the muggle that had taken his dog on a late night walk and was trying to get his dog to move instead of cowering in a ball on the sidewalk.

The only time that he separated himself from his wolf fully now was when he needed to make an appearance among witches and wizards without them knowing that he was the feared Fenrir Greyback, a name that he had given himself when he had first accepted the wolf. He was still surprised that no one had ever made the connection between Fenton Grey and Fenrir Greyback; the only real difference between the two was that Fenton had blue eyes and was not as scruffy, and a bit less likely to gut someone. Even the Dark Lord had occasionally commented on the stupidity of the wizarding world.

At the thought of the Dark Lord, Fenrir growled loudly enough that even the muggle heard it from his place on the sidewalk. After looking around, he scooped up his still cowering dog and made a run for it. Fenrir just glared at the muggle as he ran. With a huff of breath, he returned to his shadow stalking. He knew that the old man would be bringing the blasted baby here somewhere since he heard the oaf Hagrid tell Black where he was going before taking off on the motorcycle.

He had been waiting outside for the Dark Lord to finish dealing with the whelp before joining him and returning to the manor that they had been using. Fenrir was the only one of his followers that he had taken with him on the night that he would destroy the Potter family completely. Instead of everything going as planned, Fenrir watched as the house seemed to blow up. Then, on top of that shock, he learned from Black and Hagrid that the baby survived somehow and the Dark Lord was nowhere to be seen.

One thing that was bothering him though was why the old man had sent Hagrid to take the baby away instead of coming himself. The Dark Lord had speculated that the old man had some type of ward on the house that would alert him if they Potters were in danger, so it did not make much since that the old man had never shown up. _This whole night is turning out to be a nightmare_.

Finally he turned the last corner and found himself looking at number 4 Privet Drive. _Honestly, how secure does the old man think this is? All the upper level Death Eaters know where each of the muggle order members muggle families live._

Tilting his head to the side he sat back on his haunches and watched the baby that was sitting on the doorstep of the house across the street. After a few minutes of watching to make sure that there were no other magicals in the area, he stood, stalked across the street, and growled at the baby. He intended to enjoy getting revenge for whatever the whelp did to the Dark Lord, a man who had helped him when his family had abandoned him because he had been bitten. The Dark Lord had then helped him claim his inheritance by taking him to Gringotts. His father had died before he ever knew that the boy he had cast out would make something of the Grey family once more.

The one and a half year old Harry Potter had awakened to find himself wrapped in his blanket outside some strange house he had never seen before. Looking around, he could not see anything or anyone that he recognized other than his blanket. He did, however, find an envelope in his blanket that he proceeded to gnaw on. His mummy had said that he was getting another tooth and that is why his gums were hurting. He pulled his blanket closer as the cool night air caused him to shiver. Distracted as he was by the cold and by gumming the envelope as hard as he could with his swollen gums, he did not even notice the large werewolf stalking up to him until the werewolf was standing over him and growling. Harry Leaned back so that he could see better.

"Doggie!"

Ears on top of the massive head twitched in irritation at the excited squeal from the toddler. _Stupid baby doesn't even know when to be scared._ Rolling his eyes at being called a 'doggie' of all things, Fenrir tried to look as menacing as he could as he shoved his nose into the belly of the baby. He wanted to make sure that this was the Potter brat before he started to eat a random child.

With another squeal, Harry grabbed the fur on the head of the werewolf that was tickling his tummy. "Doggie!" He then began to wave his slightly damp envelope in the air as he babbled to the werewolf that was now sniffing him all over.

Fenrir was confused. He knew that this baby was magical, he could literally smell it. The baby seemed to be covered in some sort of masking spell however. If he had not been a werewolf he would have never noticed that something was not right with the Potter baby. He could definitely smell James and Lily Potter on the boy, but it was not the natural sent of the boy. There was something underneath that he was trying identify. He knew that he had smelled that sent before. It was hard to concentrate when the boy continued to giggle like a demented mini demon. Finally he paused with his snout pressed against the boy's neck and took a deep breath. Fenrir reared back in shock and stared down at the giggling little boy before him. A boy who carried the scent of his best friend, Regulus Black.

It had been a huge blow that left the Death Eaters shocked when they found that Regulus had been murdered by the order. They had known that the light was capable of anything, but had been unprepared to find one of their own had been killed while unarmed in his home. It was suspected that it had been James Potter that had cast the cutting curse that caused the death of the Black heir, causing anyone with the name Potter to be at the top of the most hated list for the Death Eaters.

The Dark Lord had sworn the night they laid the body to rest that he would destroy the Potter family for killing the young man he had adopted as his magical heir. The fact that the child of the Potters was a possible child of prophecy with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord just added to the urgency of the matter.

Fenrir tilted his head to the side as he contemplated what he should do with the boy now. He could not just eat him until he figured out what was going on with the boy's scents.

Harry was once again gnawing on the envelope but now was yawning every few minutes and rubbing his eyes. With a huff, the werewolf stood and shook out his fur, gaining the attention of the small boy before him. Harry gave him a gummy smile around his envelope and cuddled his blanket closer with a shiver.

Fenrir nudged the boy with his snout until the boy fell over with a soft plop and giggle. He continued to nudge the giggle monster until he was situated on his tummy. With one last huff, the werewolf gripped the back of the footie pajamas that the boy was wearing between his teeth and walked away from number 4 Privet Drive with the toddler dangling from his mouth, much like a wolf cub, still clutching his blanket and gnawing on his envelope as he dangled from the predator's mouth.

The occupants of number four never even stirred from their sleep.

Then next morning, Fenrir woke up with something poking him in his cheek. He grumbled and tried to swat the annoyance away, but it just came back and poked at his cheek again. He finally opened his eyes when something started to pull at his lips. He did not know of any insects, muggle or magical, that could be this annoying.

He was greeted by a frowning Harry Potter, who was sitting right beside his head and poking and pulling at his face.

"Doggie?" The boy whimpered.

Fenrir sighed and sat up, pulling the small child into his lap. "I am not a dog, brat. I am a werewolf." When the boy just stared at him with liquid green eyes and a trembling lower lip, the werewolf sighed again. "How about we get out of here and we find out why you smell like Reg covered with Potter?" Fenrir was thrilled when the boy just tilted his head to the side and stared at him while chewing on one of his fingers. He was not equipped to deal with a crying baby. To be honest, he was not equipped to deal with a baby period.

Looking around, he noticed that they were nestled into the hollowed out tree trunk in the middle of a random patch of woods outside of Surrey he had found the night before to stash his wand and clothing. After pulling on his clothes he quickly found the blanket that the boy had been left with and the chewed up remains of an envelope. Looking the letter over, he realized that it had been written by the old man himself. Giving it a sniff, he noticed that there was magic clinging to the parchment inside the envelope.

"Let's see what the old man had to say before we go, right brat?" Harry just gnawed on his finger. Avoiding the side that had been chewed on, Fenrir opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. He immediately felt a wave of compulsion charms wash over him and he quickly worked to shrug them off. The Dark Lord had insisted that his Inner Circle be able to throw off the Imperius other possible spells that could influence their minds. Fenrir was now very thankful for the rigid training that he had gone through. "Why would the old man need to use compulsion charms on muggles?" Reading through the letter, the werewolf began to snarl and growl in anger. He jerked back when a small wet hand patted him on the cheek.

"Doggie sad?" Harry was staring up at him with those big green eyes again. He had, while Fenrir was distracted, made himself at home in the werewolf's lap.

Fenrir rolled his eyes and sighed. "I am not a doggie…Fenrir, say Fenrir."

Harry stared at him before smiling. "Fen!" Harry began to bounce in his lap and repeat his new word happily. "Fen Fen Fen Fen Fen Fen."

"Sure brat, whatever." Standing Fenrir spelled the leaves and dirt off that he had accumulated while sitting on the ground. He was forever thankful that he was a wizard and could use magic to make his life easier. He then turned to the still babbling baby and spelled him clean too. He had been starting to smell a bit ripe and he was not changing a dirty diaper like a common muggle.

"Alright brat. I am going to take you to Gringotts and we are going to find out why you smell off. Then, If you are a Potter, I am going to kill you. If you are not…well, let's just see what the Goblins say." Fenrir cast a quick glamor charm over the boy to make sure that no one would recognize the boy as a Potter while in the alley. Fenrir then made sure to push back his inner wolf so that he would not look like the man known as Fenrir.

Making sure that he had a good grip on the boy, he apparated to Diagon Alley.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! If you have any questions please feel free to ask, I will do my best to respond by PM

I made up the ritual in this chapter...

4/27/16 NEW A/N: Have corrected Harry's birthday- thank you Scarlett Woman for pointing out my mistake so that I could fix it!

Happy Reading

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

{Parseltongue}

With a sharp crack, the man known as Fenton Grey appeared in the alley holding a laughing boy with sandy brown hair in his arms. He stood still for a moment as he tried to make sure that he would not drop the child that seemed determined to fall out of his arms. _What kind of baby likes to apparate?_

Finally getting a good grip on the boy, he began to stalk through the alley with long strides. He sneered at those that were openly celebrating the downfall of the Dark Lord the night before. He could hear as the people toasted the Boy-Who-Lived and told about his heroic defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He paused as he heard one man tell someone that Harry Potter had survived the killing curse with only a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. He quickly continued on his way to the bank while pondering the idiocy of the wizarding public.

 _How in Merlin's name do they already know about the scar? And what do they mean he survived the killing curse? The killing curse does not leave any marks and no one was there other than me to witness anything. The old man must be spreading rumors. Now I am going to have to do something about that blasted scar._ Fenrir snarled as he walked through the doors to the bank and found that there were no lines as everyone was outside celebrating. The Goblins still waited at their counters while reading and updating ledgers. They were always prepared to do business, but on a day like today, they all took time to do general upkeep on the inactive vaults.

He walked up to the head-teller's station and nodded his head at the goblin. "I need to speak with my account manager, Dragontooth." He did not wince when the boy in his arm grabbed his shoulder length sandy blond hair and tried to tug it towards his mouth. With a soft growl, he untangled the little fingers from his hair. "Stop that." Harry just blinked up at him with a gummy smile.

"Wait here." The Goblin hopped off of his stool and disappeared through a door behind the counter. After about five minutes of waiting he returned, followed by a much older Goblin.

"Lord Grey, It has been a while since you came in to manage your account and investments. Follow me." The old Goblin did not even raise his brows at the presence of a child in his customer's arms. The Goblin led them through the dark halls of the bank until they reached his office. "Have a seat Lord Grey. There is nothing really for you to update in our files. Your vault is as you left it with the addition of a few hundred galleons from your investments. Was there something specific you needed from the bank today?"

"Yes. I need you to do an Inheritance Test on this child. He smells off, and he has more magic on him than the glamor I placed." He was not worried about keeping his inner wolf a secret here since the Goblins already knew that he was a werewolf and did not care. They only cared about money and the Grey family had held vaults in their bank since they arrived in England centuries ago. They also respected the money they had earned when Fenrir inherited the vaults and began making investments. His father was never able to manage his money well and had spent more than the vaults earned. Had he lived, Fenrir would have inherited nothing but debt.

"Is that not the Potter child that you are holding?" The Goblin was staring at the boy with an indecipherable look on his face. "I never thought I would see you in the company of a Potter, especially after what happened to the young Lord Black."

Fenrir winced at the mention of his best friend. His death had served no point other than to make sure that the Black Lordship was unclaimed. The Death Eaters had all theorized that James Potter was trying to open an avenue for his friend, the disowned brother of Regulus, to inherit. There had been whispers in the ranks that the old man was going to push the inheritance through if no other heir could be found. It would be completely illegal, but that did not ever seem to sway the Leader of the Light or the people that followed him blindly. As long as it was for the Light it must be okay.

"Like I said. He smells off. I am not sure that he is actually a Potter."

"Well now, that is certainly interesting. It was not even an hour ago that Mr. Dumbledore came into the bank and requested access to the boy's trust fund vault as his Magical Guardian. How is it that you came to be in possession of the boy? I doubt that Mr. Dumbledore would have left him in your care." the Goblin was pulling items out of his desk so that he could carry out the test. He sat a jade bowl on his desk, along with a knife with an onyx handle and a quill from a Blood Phoenix.

"I found him sitting on the doorstep to a muggle home last night. He had been left with a letter that the old man had laced with compulsion charms." Fenrir looked disgusted as he described how he had found the boy. Leaving a magical child with a muggle was just disgusting; he felt that way even if he had planned to kill the boy.

The Goblin bared his teeth at the thought of a child of any race being left alone out in the cold. The Goblin Nation had little respect for Mr. Dumbledore, and this would not help any. "I see. Well then, prick the boy's finger and make sure that three drops of blood fall into this bowl."

Harry fussed when Fenrir pricked his finger and pinched it so that the blood would drop into the bowl. Once the wound was healed he buried his face in the crook of the werewolf's neck and began to chew on one of his other fingers while sniffing. Fenrir noticed that while the boy was fussy, he still had not cried. While thankful, he could not help but wonder if that was normal; especially since he had not seen his parents today.

The Goblin mixed a black potion in with the blood before holding the quill above the liquid. The quill quickly absorbed the potion in the bowl and was held above a blank piece of parchment. With a whispered spell in Gobbledegook, the quill snapped out of the Goblin's hand and began to write across the parchment. Both werewolf and Goblin snarled as they read over the information on the parchment

Unnamed Child: Born July 30, 1980

Known As Harry James Potter

Mother: Morrigan Selena Loxias – Deceased July 30, 1981

Father: Regulus Arcturus Black – Deceased June 15, 1981

Blood Heir: The Most Ancient And Noble House Of Black

The Most Ancient And Noble House Of Loxias

Adopted Heir: The Estate Of The Noble House Of Potter

Magical Heir: The Most Ancient And Most Noble House Of Slytherin

The Magical House Of Riddle

Magical Core blocked by Albus Dumbledore – 80% – October 31, 1981

Family Magic Affinities Blocked by Albus Dumbledore – 95% – October 31, 1981

Appearance Glamor Applied by Albus Dumbledore – July 31, 1980

"What the hell is this?" Fenrir wanted desperately to hurt someone. When a whimper sounded from the boy he was holding, he looked down to see that the boy had fallen asleep and had been disturbed by his yelling. "What does this mean?" He whispered to the Goblin behind the desk while rubbing the back of the toddler awkwardly. The boy settled back down without waking up.

"This means, that the Potters claimed a child that was not their own. They would have had to have known about everything since they did an adoption ritual to make him their heir to the estate, as well as the fact that they would have had to have been present for the glamor charm to take hold. Due to the dates involved, I would have to guess that Lily Potter lost her child not long after his birth, and so they took possession of a child that was still at the hospital whose mother died in childbirth the day before. Mr. Dumbledore may have erased the memory of the boy from the minds of the healers or made them think that the other baby had died instead of the Potter child."

Fenrir looked down at the sleeping boy in his arms. "This is Regulus's child. I want the charms removed immediately and his name changed to one befitting a proper Black. Harry Potter does not exist." He thought he might vomit. "Merlin, Reg's son was being raised by his murderer."

"Removing everything can be done. If it helps, I do not think that there is any way that the Potters could have known who the boy's father was. Morrigan Loxias was not well known in the circles that they would have traveled. She did not even go to Hogwarts. And, while contracts were being drawn up, Lord Black died before he could announce his intention to marry." The Goblin gave a toothy grin to the man in front of him. "I would suggest that you move the majority of the Potter Family Vaults into the Black or Loxias Vaults. Leave enough gold so that the trust vault can still be refiled every year to the set amount for…say five years. That way Mr. Dumbledore will not know until then that something is wrong with the boy he left to muggles. I doubt that he will be checking up on the boy's welfare if he left him on a door step. This should ensure that he never even thinks it possible that this child is the child he claimed was The-Boy-Who-Lived."

"The-Boy-Who-Lived. Are you serious?" When the Goblin just nodded with a toothy grin Fenrir sighed and adjusted his hold on the boy. He had not even noticed the moniker while in the alley. "Transfer it into the Loxias Vault. I don't think that there are any family members left alive from the family to gain access, so it will be assured that the child will be the only one to benefit from the change of vaults."

The Goblin nodded in agreement before dropping a note in a box on his desk where it burned to ash. A few moments later a Goblin entered the room and bowed towards Dragontooth. "Take the boy and remove the Appearance Glamor, also remove the Magical Core Block and the Family Magic Affinity Block. Make sure that he stays asleep during the process so as not be upset by the ritual. Oh, and heal that cut on his head. I can feel some type of magic coming from the cut that I want identified."

The Goblin hissed through his teeth at the mention of the blocks as he gently pulled the boy from the werewolf's arms. He ignored the warning growl that came from the man and quickly made his way from the room with the young child. Fenrir took a moment to compose himself. He had actually wanted to bite the Goblin that had pulled the baby from his arms. _What in Merlin's name was that?_ Unsure of his reaction, he turned his attention back to his account manager.

"He will be back within the next hour or so." The Goblin assured the agitated man before him. "What do you plan to do with the boy? He will need to be looked after and kept away from Mr. Dumbledore."

"I will be taking care of the boy. I want access to the Black Manor in London. The portraits will be able to help make sure that he is raised as a proper Black should be. Reg should have a portrait there. I also want frames from the Loxias Family to hang in the Manor so that they may also be involved with the boy. I know nothing of their family or Family Magic, so I will need some way for the boy to learn his heritage. I will need to leave a message with the Goblins for the Dark Lord. I am not sure where he is, but I know that he will check in with the Goblins at some point. He needs to know that the boy that he tried to kill was the son of Regulus and that he is his Magical Heir. It will explain why he failed to kill the boy. He will also need to know that the Potter whelp died at birth and is not a threat. Make sure that the message explains to the Dark Lord that I will be taking the boy to the Black Manor in London."

The Goblin nodded in agreement as he created a note that would be distributed to all Gringotts branches to await delivery to the Dark Lord. The Goblins did not care about the politics that the Wizards immersed themselves in. They only cared about money and the Dark Lord had never offended them. The Leader of the Light, however, offended them constantly. Mr. Dumbledore continuously tried to stick his nose into their customer's business and dictate what they could and could not do 'for the greater good,' of course. The Goblins had long ago realized that the so called 'greater good' was the greater good of Mr. Dumbledore.

"The message will be waiting at all branches for him to access his vaults. Now, I imagine that you will not want to call the boy Harry James Potter?" The Goblin pulled out another blank piece of parchment to document the boy's new name. "Harry Potter died and is no more. I will make sure that his trust vault is active for five years before Mr. Dumbledore has reason to check on his Mr. Potter. I believe that the Goblin Nation will conduct a Vault Ownership Test and declare him dead at that time." A nasty grin spread across the Goblin's face as he made a note to sever the trust vault from any known magical signatures that could be traced back to the Black child. "Dumbledore will have to produce the child in person to prevent the boy from being declared dead."

"It will be interesting to watch the old man try and found out what happened." Fenrir smirked at the images that played across his mind before answering the Goblin's original question." The boy will have a name that shows he is a Black. His mother was Morrigan…that was the Raven Goddess I think. Hm, how about the name Corvus Hyperion Black. Corvus is the raven constellation. That should please the Blacks with their need to name their children after stars and constellations, and also will link him to his mother. Hyperion will make a good middle name, and I think his father would have seen the humor in it. It should be a strong enough name for the heir of the Black and Loxias families. I don't think that the Dark Lord will care one way or another as long as it is not a common name."

The Goblin just nodded and notated the new name on the Parchment. Within a few moments, the birth record of Corvus Hyperion Black was created and duplicated. One copy was sent to the ministry archives, one was sent to the Goblin archives, a copy was made for each of the family ledgers that the boy was heir to, and the last copy was given to Fenrir. He noted with interest that Corvus Hyperion Black's Legal Magical Guardians was listed as Fenton Grey.

"I have a question Dragontooth." Fenrir said with a pensive look. "Will this not show in the Book of Names at Hogwarts? The old man will surely notice that a new Black is in the book and that Harry Potter is no longer listed."

"That will not be a problem. As the boy was never actually Harry Potter, Mr. Dumbledore would have had to cast a spell on the book to show the boy as living, and the child that Lily Potter gave birth to that night died within a few hours of his birth. It is that child that went through the naming ritual and was named Harry James Potter. An adoption is not automatically listed within the book of names. It would have if they had blood adopted him and gave him a name, but they only did the ritual to make sure that their estate went to him at their death. They did not even bother to give the child a name with a naming ceremony of his own. Frankly, the adoption was not planned out well. Corvus may have gone by the name Harry Potter, but it was never legal since they were calling the boy by the name that belonged and was magically tied to their dead son. Because Mr. Dumbledore corrected the death of Harry James Potter in the Book of Names to show him as living, it will continue to do so until such time as he is again legally declared dead."

"I see. Well that will make everything that much easier. Thank Merlin that they were incompetent when trying to steal a child that was not theirs." Fenrir looked up as a Goblin came in while carrying a wide awake little boy. Taking him back into his arms, Fenrir looked over the boy that now looked nothing like a Potter. Corvus looked like a perfect little Black. He had his father's black hair and had the Black grey eyes. As he looked closer, he could see that his eyes had a ring of purple around the outside of the iris and thin purple lines that streaked from the outside ring towards the pupils. It looked like a lightning storm against a stormy sky. "Must get the purple from his mother." He muttered. The child was defiantly striking. Of course, all of the Black family members were attractive.

The Goblin handed Dragontooth a report before leaving. "Hn, it seems that the magic in the scar was cast to make it impossible for the cut to heal on its own. While we were able to heal it with no problem once the magic was removed, it would have remained a vivid scar that would have caused many problems including headaches and bad eyesight. He would have been more susceptible to mind magic from the caster as it would give them a point of entry that could not be blocked. It is not surprising that it looks like the signature matches that of Mr. Dumbledore."

Fenrir snarled. He was not sure what to make of the old man's actions, but this reeked of manipulation on a grand scale. He decided that he would have to make a list so that he would be able to keep track of the things they knew so that he could give a complete report when the Dark Lord returned. Maybe he would be able to figure out what the old man was planning.

The Goblin broke into Fenrir's thoughts. "Now that you have decided on the name for the boy, do you want to do the ceremony here before going? You may use our ritual room."

"Yes that would be best I think." Fenrir stood and followed the Goblin down a short hall to a plain stone room with a circle of Ruins carved into the middle.

Once he and the baby were alone, he took off all clothing and jewelry that would have any traces of magic on them. He finally entered the circle in his white shirt and grey pants and laid the baby on his back in front of him while he knelt. Fenrir was thankful that he enjoyed researching so much, or he would have no clue what to do. Children were nowhere in his future plans. Fenrir decided to do one of the older Naming Rituals he had found a few years ago. He spoke clearly so that Magic would be able to read his intent in the ritual.

 _From the North I call into this Circle the Powers of Earth_

 _From the East I call into this Circle the Powers of Air_

 _From the South I call into this Circle the Powers of Fire_

 _From the West I call into this Circle the Powers of Water_

 _Magic, this child is brought before you_

 _I ask that Magic bless this child_

 _By my Magic, I swear to teach this child_

 _By my Magic, I swear to protect this child_

 _By my Magic, I swear to provide for this child_

 _By my Magic, I swear to care for this child_

 _I ask that Magic name this child Corvus Hyperion Black_

 _Corvus Hyperion Black_

 _Child of the Black, Loxias, Slytherin, Riddle families_

 _Blessed be_

Fenrir watched as Magic blessed the child and ritual with swirls of black and purple within the circle. It was rare to have a visual display during a ritual, but that could be explained by the ritual being one of the older and darker rituals. Many felt that it was too dangerous to make pledges that amounted to unbreakable vows, but Fenrir thought that it was the least he could do for his friend. Magic would have seen his intent, and he felt that He and Corvus would need all the help they could get.

He made his way out of the Ritual Room and entered Dragontooth's office about the same time another Goblin entered the room and placed a shrunken trunk on the desk before leaving.

"Ah, here we are. These are the portrait frames from the Loxias family vault. They have frames in their manor homes of course, but like many families, had multiple spares placed in their vaults. They will be able to tell you if there are any that need to be retrieved from the manor specifically. I also had them pack a few of the things in the Black Family Vaults that will make caring for a young child easier. There are some toys and learning tools, books appropriate for that age and also some nursery furniture. Lord and Lady Black long ago packed up their nursery, so most of this, if not all, would have been used by the boy's father. Also, I had them include some of the books from the Loxias Vaults that I do not believe will be in the Black Family Library. They may come in handy at some point in the boy's education, especially with Family Magic. I am sure that there are others, but this will do until the portraits can advise you otherwise. I have checked our records and it is clear that the ritual worked and that Magic linked his name to his own magical signature as Corvus Hyperion Black is in the book of names for both Hogwarts and Durmstrang Institute. I believe that his mother went to the latter."

"Thank you. I think that is about all I need to get done today. Oh, wait. Please set up a trust vault under his name. I want it refilled yearly to the amount that Regulus had when he was using a trust vault. I will need you to send me the ledgers for the houses that he is heir to, except for those of the Dark Lord unless he states otherwise. I will decide if any changes need to be made after I have had a chance to go through them. I also want an accounting of everything that was removed from the Potter Vault, and all the contents of the Black and Loxias Vaults. Bar Sirius Black from any vault that is not in his name if that has not been done already. I doubt that there will be anyone to claim the Potter name, but with the way they did the adoption the name may die. The Blacks will be happy for the name to die, and will be pleased that their wealth was absorbed into the vaults of their heir. If Dumbledore does manage to find someone to claim the name, there will be nothing for them to inherit." Fenrir smirked at the grinning Goblin while he tried to think of anything else he needed to do before leaving." I would like for you to manage all of the accounts as that will make things easier communication wise. How will we be able to gain access to the Black Family Manor?" Corvus was now wining and pulling at the robes of Fenrir. "I should probably feed the brat or something. The Blacks had an elf, correct?"

The Goblin finished making a note of everything that had been requested before pulling a box from his desk. "Yes, the there was an elf bound to the House of Black. He should be in the manor when you arrive. This is a Guardian Ring. It will act similarly to an Heir and Lord Ring and serve as a portkey to any of young Mr. Black's homes so that you may care for them. It will automatically update with the properties that will be revealed from our audit into the families' holdings. It will also link to the heir ring that the young Black heir will receive once he turns five." The Goblin passed the box over to Fenrir, who simply placed it on his right ring finger, where it flashed as it resized. Corvus giggled and clapped before he tried to pull Fenrir's hand into his mouth. The Goblin chuckled as Fenrir grimaced and wiped the slobber off of his hand. "To activate it just say out loud, Black Family Manor."

"Lovely." Fenrir stood and gave a respectful nod towards the Goblin. "Thank you for your prompt help this morning. I will be in contact with you soon."

"Of course, Lord Grey. It had been interesting serving you this morning. I will begin the audits of all involved vaults and investments and contact you if the need arises before we next meet."

Fenrir walked out of the bank with no indication showing those around him how stunned he was from the mornings revelations. This is not what he expected when started out for revenge last night. Once they reached the public area for portkey arrivals and departures, Fenrir gripped the boy tighter and said clearly, "Black Family Manor." They disappeared with an excited squeal from the boy.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews and the Favorites and Follows. I have high hopes for this story and hope that you continue to enjoy it. If you have any questions please let me know and I will do my best to answer through PM.

Happy Reading

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

{Parseltongue}

Walburga Maia Black's portrait snapped awake when an unknown man portkeyed into the entry hall of her home with a laughing baby dangling upside down from his arms. It took the portrait a few moments of blinking at the sight of the large man trying to pull the baby upright without dropping it before she was able to question the interlopers as to their reason for disturbing her rest.

"Who are you that you dare to disturb the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black?" The baby stopped giggling and turned wide eyes towards her painting as she screeched at the man in her most annoying tone of voice. Fenrir had finally manhandled the baby so that he was back in an upright position. The portrait blinked as the baby waved to her with a tiny hand before hiding his face in the man's neck. "I will not allow you to defile this house with your filth. This is not a house that will be sullied by the shame that came from my loins." She was just working up to a good rant about her eldest son when the man cleared his throat to catch her attention.

"Lady Black. I am not here on behalf of the blood traitor Sirius Black. I would never design to defile your house with the filth that the Light presses onto people. I am…I was a friend of Regulus, my name is Fenton Grey."

"He told me about you. You are the one known as Fenrir Grayback." The painting was now looking down at the man before her with narrowed eyes. "There is nothing left for you here wolf. My son is dead and the shame that turned on his family will be able to claim the house, especially now that the Dark Lord is gone. You will not be able to hide from the Light here."

"I am not here to hide from the Light Madam. I have come because I found out that Regulus had a son and this is the best place I could think of for him to be raised as a proper Black." Fenrir enjoyed the look of shock that the portrait could not contain. "There is a lot that will need to be explained, but I am not sure when the brat last had anything to eat." Corvus seemed to agree as he tied to stuff his fist in his mouth as he again stared up at the portrait that was now looking at him with interest shining in her eyes.

"Kreacher!" Corvus jumped in Fenrir's arms when a small body popped into the room. Before the Portrait could issues orders for the elf to find something appropriate for the toddler to eat, Corvus began to squirm wildly in Fenrir's arms. Startled, Fenrir sat the boy on the floor before he dropped him. Corvus immediately took off like a bullet and launched himself at the unsuspecting elf.

"Look Fen Look. Mine." The toddler began to giggle as Kreacher began to mutter in confusion while holding as still as possible as he was hugged by an excited todler.

"Small wizard has attached to Kreacher. Kreacher is not sure what small wizard is being doing in the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. Kreacher is being wondering why mistress has called Kreacher. Does Mistress needs Kreacher to rid the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black of the small and large new wizards?" Kreacher looked up to the portrait for direction while Fenrir just rubbed his temples.

"Kreacher, you will find something for the boy to eat while Lord Fenton Grey." With a look at the man before her she corrected herself. This was her son's friend. "While Fenrir and I talk in the study. Please inform the portraits of Phineas, Orion, and Regulus that they are needed in the frame of the study as well." Kreacher nodded causing his ears to flop back and forth on his head. Kreacher looked down at the small wizard that was still attached to him, unsure if he was supposed to take the boy with him or not. He was saved as Fenrir pulled the squirming boy away. Kreacher popped away as the boy wined at the spot the elf had disappeared from.

"Mine." Corvus pouted at an unimpressed Fenrir who simply sighed and gripped the boy tightly so that he could not get down again. He ended up holding Corvus so that he was facing away from him and dangling limply from his arms. This was almost like carrying him last night, the boy immediacy went limp and calm, just like a cub. Once the boy was limp and no longer wriggling like a demented flobberworm, Fenrir looked up at the portrait of his best friend's mother expectantly.

"Meet me in the room on the left past the stairway." With one last bemused glance at the man and boy in her entry hall, she left her frame.

Fenrir was impressed when he walked entered the study. The room was decorated in warm brown woods without being overly dark. The desk sat facing the door from across the room and to the right while to the left of the door a sitting area had been created facing a fireplace with a large portrait frame above it. Two leather chairs sat in front of the desk while a comfortable couch in matching upholstery was situated in front of the fireplace. The hardwood floor was covered in a thick cream carpet. Fenrir made his way over to settle onto the couch with a relieved sigh. It had been a long day and he had never been around a baby before. Babies were apparently able to suck out all the energy of the adults around them. Corvus did not even bother moving or protesting the movement; he just continued to hang over Fenrir's arms and stare at the floor while chewing on his fingers.

Walburga smirked at the disgruntled young man that was staring down at the boy he said was her grandson. "You have never been around small children, have you?"

"No." Fenrir muttered while still glaring at the back of the boy's head. _Is this normal? Surely that cannot be comfortable._ He had never even understood how cubs and other small animals could be so content while being carted around by the scruff of the neck, so a limp child in his arms was just odd. Fenrir finally looked up when he heard a gasp coming from the frame above the fireplace. Walburga had been joined by three men, one of which caused Fenrir's heart to clench with sadness.

"Fenrir? What are you doing here, mate? Is that a baby?" Regulus was staring at his friend incredulously. "You made a baby?"

Fenrir huffed and rolled his eyes. "No you moron, I did not make a baby. You did." He adjusted his grip and held the boy up towards the portrait by holding him underneath his arms. Corvus finally looked up and stared up at the four people in the portrait while chewing on one of his fingers. He smiled around his fingers and waved with the other hand to the people looking down from the frame. Fenrir pulled the baby back to his lap as the portrait of his friend processed what he had just been told. The other two men stepped closer to the canvas of the painting and narrowed their eyes as they examined the boy.

"I made a baby?" Regulus whispered. "That's my son. Mother! I have a son!" The excited echo of the man that had been Regulus Black turned to his mother in excitement.

"Yes, I heard." Walburga sat in one of the chairs available in the painting as she looked at her son. "Apparently, your friend here just found him and needs to tell us some things." Once the others were settled in the various chairs and couches provided in the painting, she turned back to the young man sitting on the couch. "Do you know who the boy's mother is and who her family is?" Regulus looked interested. He had not been seriously involved with anyone the last time he had updated his memories for the portrait. Though, he did have his eye on a lovely young woman that had gone to school at Durmstrang.

"Oh, that reminds me. I have their spare portrait frames from their vault. His mother was Morrigan Selena Loxias. Do you mind if I place them on the wall so I only have to explain this once?" Fenrir pulled the shrunken trunk out of his pocket and enlarged it.

Walburga nodded. "It would be no hardship to share space with the Loxias family. They are a good Dark family that followed the Old Ways. Look for the frames that are labeled as Morrigan Selena Loxias, of course; then we should see if you have frames for her father and grandfather; Cadeyrn Sebastian and Alaric Gwydion respectively. I know her mother never sat for a portrait for some reason, so there will not be one for her. Fenrir shuffled through the stack of portraits and found the three frames he needed while still holding onto Corvus.

Kreacher Popped into the room, causing Corvus to squeal and begin to wiggle. Kreacher just stood eyeing the baby from across the room while holding a plate of food that had been cut into bite size pieces. There were little pieces of baked chicken, green beans, and chips.

Fenrir looked from the elf to the baby in his arms for a moment. He just knew that the brat would take off if he sat him down. Looking around, he grabbed a pillow from the couch and transfigured it into a child sized chair. He placed Corvus on the chair and then used a sticking charm to hold him there as he wiggled around. Corvus finally just stared up at Fenrir with his lightning storm eyes and pouted.

"Don't look at me like that brat." Fenrir grabbed an ugly vase off of a corner table and transfigured it into a small table that he sat in front of Corvus so that he could eat while still within sight of the werewolf. Walking over to Kreacher he handed the elf the three frames he had pulled from the trunk and grabbed the plate of food to place in front of the baby. He paused before sitting the plate down and stared down at the child that was again wigging in the seat he had created. "He can feed himself right?"

"Only one way to find out, young man. Put the plate down and see what he does. Kreacher, add those portraits to the Hall and send the occupants here once you call them to the frames." Walburga was clearly the one in charge of the house, even if she was just a portrait. Kreacher popped away with the frames and Fenrir settled himself back on the couch so that he was in reaching distance of the boy if something happened.

Corvus tried a few more times to detach his bottom from the chair that he was sitting on before realizing that there was food in front of him. Using his fingers, he began to pick up pieces of food and place them in his mouth. A few moments later, Kreacher came in with a magical baby cup. It looked like a miniature glass for an adult, but when tipped over, a magical barrier would prevent the liquid from falling out of the cup. Most of the purebloods still used these instead of the newer muggle sippy cups that most of the Light families were using because they helped the children get used to the feel of a regular cup. Corvus played with it for a few moments before figuring out how to properly drink from it.

Fenrir sighed and leaned back when he realized that the baby was able to feed himself without too much trouble. A snort drew his gaze back to the portrait above the fireplace. All four black were smirking at him with raised brows. Fenrir just shrugged. He knew that he knew nothing about babies, which is why he came here to begin with.

The figures in the painting were distracted from their inspection of the two occupants of the study by noise coming from outside their frame that seemed to be getting closer to their portrait. Soon, three additional figures joined the Blacks. Walburga greeted Cadeyrn and his father with a smile. While Cadeyrn went to Durmstrang and she went to Hogwarts many of the Dark families made sure to socialize together at balls and functions throughout the year. The families tended to be a very tightly knit group; even more so since Dumbledore began to spread his Light propaganda. Most of the Light families had stopped attending any pureblood functions at all, so the Dark families had very little interaction with the Light families.

"Would someone like to explain why our Portraits were called to the House of Black? Not that it is not lovely to be here, my dear." Alaric nodded at Walburga politely as he settled into one of the arm chairs in the painting.

"Not to worry, My Lord." Walburga nodded at the stern looking man. "Fenrir here, who is also known as Lord Fenton Grey, has asked that you be included while he explains, however, to catch up you up to what we know, somehow he has come into possession of a child of both of our houses." At her brief explanation, the Loxias family members sat forward to get a better look at little boy who was still using his fingers to pick up the small pieces of his food at his miniature table.

"Is that my child?" Morrigan asked while smiling softly at the child. When Fenrir nodded, she asked in confusion. "Then how did you end up with him? Obviously I died for my portrait to be active, but what happened?"

"You knew that you were going to have a baby?" Regulus looked at the woman he had hoped to marry.

Nodding sadly she replied. "I found out right after you were killed. I updated the memories for my portrait twice during my pregnancy so that I would remember as much as I could. I had decided to update them every few months, in case something happened to me like it did to you and some other members of Dark families. The last update though, was while I was only seven months along."

"Alright, this is going to take some time to explain everything, but I will tell you everything that I know. I know that the Black portraits have already heard of the 'Dark Lord's Defeat,' have the portraits in your home heard as well?"

"Yes," Alaric nodded. "Our elves brought us the news sometime last night; they try to keep us up to date on what is happening when no one is in residence. They said that the Potter child killed him." The others nodded in agreement that the information matched what they had heard from their own frames.

"Well, I was waiting outside for the Dark Lord, when it happened. Both Sirius Black and that oaf Hagrid showed up not long after. I overheard the gamekeeper telling Sirius Black that he was taking Harry to his relatives on Dumbledore's orders, and when he left with the baby, I decided that I would kill the child myself. I made my way to Surrey, where Lily Potter's muggle family lived, and found the baby sitting on a doorstep." Everyone in the painting was now staring at the werewolf in shock.

"What kind of person leaves a baby on a doorstep?" Walburga asked incredulously. The others just nodded at her comment. None present had any respect for the Potter family, but considered it cruel to leave a child out in the cold. No one mentioned the fact that Fenrir had gone to kill the child to begin with.

"Apparently the Light kind." Fenrir muttered. "Well, I checked out the baby to make sure that it was the Potter child…and found that he smelled funny…just…not right. I could smell the Potters, but I could also smell Regulus."

After a few moments of silence to process the information, Regulus had to explain to the confused Loxias family that Fenrir was a werewolf and would have been able to smell him, even if there was magical interference. They had not made the connection from Walburga's introduction to the werewolf that people around England feared. Fenrir then took a moment to explain that he had control when transformed and would not harm the child even when transformed, causing the occupants of the portrait that had not known about him to relax back into their seats.

"I took the brat with me, so that I could find out what was going on before killing him. He was not scared at all when I carried him off while in my wolf form. The next morning, I took him to Gringotts. I found out while on the way that Dumbledore had already spread the story of him surviving the killing curse with just a scar." He just nodded in agreement as the others exclaimed about how idiotic that sounded. "I don't even know how he got people to believe it without proof, but that is what people were talking about. I heard about it the whole time I was in the alley. I went to my account manager and had him run an Inheritance Test, which showed his parents as Morrigan and Regulus. It also showed that he had no legal name but was known as Harry James Potter and was the heir to both of your families, the heir to the Potter's estate by adoption, and the Magical Heir of Slytherin and Riddle." The occupants gasped as they realized what Fenrir was alluding to with his story.

Regulus jumped out of his chair. "With Tom making me his magical heir, it would have passed to my son. Magic would never allow a parent or head of family to harm their child or heir. Great Merlin. The Dark Lord is alive!" Regulus paused and narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Wait, what do you mean he had no legal name?"

"I will get to that in a minuet. But yes, Magic probably relocated the Dark Lord somewhere far away with a severe magical drain as a warning for his actions against his heir. I think it will take at least a few months if not a year before he gathers enough strength to go to Gringotts, where he will receive a letter explaining what happened and where we are. I don't really remember what we looked up while researching before he made you his Magical Heir, but I do remember that the consequences get gradually worse with each attack. I don't even want to know what would have happened if I did not track down the child. He probably would have continued to attack him, causing him to become some sort of deformed being with no magic left." The portraits all nodded in agreement. One did not cross Magic without consequences.

"On top of all that, we found out that Dumbledore placed a Magical Core Block on the boy to block the majority of his magic, a block for any Family Magic he may have an affinity to, also placed the charm on him that made him look like a Potter-which the Potters would have been aware of, and then used his magic on the scar that everyone was talking about in the alley. It would have kept the scar from healing and given him an opening to use mind magics later."

The portraits started to yell as they heard what had happened to a child of Black and Loxias. Phineas, being the oldest of the family heads present was livid. "I will be keeping a close eye on that man's office. He has no business being around small children. I can see that it was a mistake to spend most of my time sleeping and not keeping an eye on the fool." He continued to mutter as the others continued to ask questions of Fenrir.

Corvus was now looking at the painting as they ranted. No one noticed that he was starting to get upset at all the yelling. They did not notice the sky outside darkening as it started to rain. Rainy weather was normal for this part of the country and the weather frequently changed with no warning. He still could not get his bottom unstuck from the little chair and no one was paying any attention to the little boy who now had big fat tears rolling down his cheeks. With a loud crack, a surprised Kreacher appeared in the room while holding a soapy dishpan in his hands. He looked at the startled portraits and wizard in confusion.

"What is it Kreacher? Why are you holding a dishpan?" Regulus asked the elf from above the fireplace.

"Kreacher does not know, Kreacher is being washing the dishes and making dinner for Lord Grey and the new little wizard, and then Kreacher is being pulled in here."

"Pulled?" Walburga asked.

"MINE!" Corvus yelled from his seat while reaching towards the elf. "Mine, Stuck." He bounced in his seat to make his point while waiting for the elf to get him off the chair.

"Oh my, the boy summoned the elf to him. Fenrir, I think the boy is tired of sitting there. It looks like he was upset by all the noise we were making." When Cadeyrn pointed out the tears that were still on the boy's face, everyone looked suitably abashed. "There there, little one, you are alright, now." he said soothingly from his seat in the frame.

"Father, it's raining. I think that he may have your affinity to the elements." Morrigan pointed towards the window with glee. The Loxias family had an affinity to different aspects of the elements that would show up every few generations when there was a child with strong enough magic.

"Oh, how wonderful. Fenrir, that will be something that you need to keep an eye on. The boy will need to learn Occlumency early to help control his emotions. It is probably a good thing that the weather here changes at the drop of a feather." Walburga was looking at the boy with pride. It was always wonderful when two powerful families combined and created a powerful heir.

Fenrir sighed at the thought of the boy being even more work. He picked the boy up after canceling the sticking spell and wiped his face clean of food and tears. Sitting back down, the boy began to rub his face on his shirt making the werewolf look at him as though he was going to attack him at any moment.

"He is just tired Fenrir, pat him on the back or move softly from side to side." Walburga advised the uncomfortable man on the couch. She smirked as the man began to pat the baby on the back as though he was a dangerous potion that would explode at any moment. He began to sway from side to side as the baby calmed down and began to chew on his fingers. It only took a few minutes for the exhausted baby to fall fast asleep.

Fenrir looked up at the portrait in panic. "Now what?" He was not sure why he was panicking now when he had not before, but now that there was someone-even if it was just a painting-that actually knew what to do with children, he felt as though he was going to do something wrong and damage the child.

"Just hold him while we talk. You are doing fine." Walburga soothed the clueless man. It was clear that he had made the right decision to come to the family portraits for help. He son had good taste in friends

"Oh, I wish I could hold him in my arms." Morrigan whispered from her seat beside a sad Regulus. He was rubbing her back comfortingly. Neither of them would ever have the chance to hold their son or comfort him.

"It will be alright Morrigan, we will still be here as he grows up. We may not be able to hold him yet, but we can make sure that he knows who we are." Regulus noticed that his mother and father were looking at him with pride and felt that he must have said the right thing.

He was proven right a few moments later when Morrigan sat up straight and looked towards Fenrir. You said that you would explain why he had no legal name. Everyone in the painting sat forward and looked at Fenrir expectantly.

"Right." He shifted to a more comfortable position and then made sure that the child was still asleep. "Well apparently, from what we could tell, Harry James Potter died a few hours after birth. He had lived long enough to go through the naming ceremony, but did not survive long after that. We think that Dumbledore helped the Potters take a baby whose mother died from the hospital so no one would know. They simply glamoured him with a permanent charm and began to call him by their dead son's name. That is how he was able to inherit the estate. They adopted him in a way that made him the heir to the estate only. Someone could theoretically come forward and claim the name and title, but we moved most of the contents of the Potter Vault to the Loxias Vault. There is only enough left in the Potter Vault to keep the Trust Vault of Harry Potter active for five years. We hope that keeps Dumbledore busy."

"Hold on just a minute," Regulus was now rubbing his temples. "Are you telling me that the Potters, not only stole my son, but called him by the name of their dead baby?" When Fenrir nodded he blanched. "That is extremely creepy." He muttered. The older members of the family agreed, but were able to keep their composure a little bit better. Morrigan had placed a hand over her mouth and was staring out of the frame in horror, it was an affront to Magic to not give a child a naming ceremony.

Alaric grimaced. "Well. At least you were able to basically bankrupt the Potter family. Even if no one will know until someone tries to claim the rights to the family holdings. The family should be dead and gone now, and the Blacks will persevere." This seemed to help cheer everyone up. James Potter tried to destroy the Black legacy and now they were destroyed themselves. It seemed fitting. "Please continue Fenrir."

"I asked that everything be audited and put my account manager in charge of the accounts. I should be receiving ledgers and would appreciate help in deciphering the ones pertaining to your families. I will do my best to manage them until the boy can take over at his majority. I am listed as his Magical Guardian which is how we came to be here." He held up his hand so that the others could see his Guardian Ring.

"Yes yes, you did wonderfully. Now what did you name my grandson." Walburga was now leaning forward and looking at Fenrir impatiently.

Fenrir shifted nervously causing those in the painting to narrow their eyes in suspicion. "Corvus Hyperion Black." Fenrir said reluctantly. He had been sure that they would approve, but now was not sure.

"Aw." Morrigan cooed in the direction of her sleeping baby. "What a lovely name."

Walburga sat back with a satisfied smile. "A proper constellation name, I approve."

"Corvus was the raven constellation, so I thought that both families would approve, seeing as how Morrigan was a goddess associated with the raven. I thought Reg would like Hyperion."

As the others smiled, Regulus started to laugh. "Wasn't Hyperion the Titan god of light?" When Fenrir just smirked and nodded, the other's joined Regulus in laughter. "The old man was going to try and put the boy everyone knew as Harry Potter as the Light's champion. Oh, I like the name, Fenrir." Regulus smiled down at his friend who was still rubbing his son's back.

"I think it is a proud name." Orion said while Phineas nodded in agreement. "The boy will have a lot to learn. He is a bit young now, but we can start by telling him stories about the history of Magic and our families. Once he is a bit older, we will begin his education. For right now, Phineas, Alaric, Cadeyrn, and I will begin to help you sort through the ledgers and such when they come. Phineas will not be here very much, as it is probably a good idea for him to keep an eye on Dumbledore's office as much as possible." Phineas nodded and disappeared from the frame.

Walburga then begin to plan with Morrigan before turning to Fenrir. "You will need to get some things from our vault. There is no baby furniture left in the house or any children's toys or books." She paused when Fenrir gestured to the trunk that was still sitting beside the couch.

"Actually, the Goblins said they packed up all that stuff for me to bring with me. Dragontooth said that you had packed it all away some time ago. He said that he included some things from the Loxias Vault, including some books on their family magic."

Walburga nodded. "Dragontooth was also our account manager and would not have steered you wrong. Kreacher." When the elf popped back into the room, Walburga began to give him detailed instructions. "Kreacher. Fenrir will be staying her indefinitely. The boy he is holding is Regulus's son, Corvus. You are to serve them as a proper Black elf should. Do you understand?"

Kreacher nodded without taking his eyes off of the small boy. "Kreacher has a little Master to take care of again? Kreacher will take care of Little Master Corvus and his Lord Grey."

"Good. Now, that trunk has things for the nursery. I want you to set up the master suite for Lord Grey, and the adjoining room as the nursery. Once the child is older, he can move into his own suite. There are other frames in the trunk as well. Confer with the Loxias family already present to see which ones should be added to the portrait hall." When the elf popped away with the trunk, she turned her attention to Fenrir. "You have proven yourself to be a good friend to my son, and I thank you for bringing my grandson here."

"I could do nothing else once I found out that he was Reg's child." Fenrir nodded at the thankful smile that Regulus sent his way. "I know nothing of children and never planned on having my own, so I will do the best I can to raise my friend's son, but I know I would fail without direction." He shifted at the looks he was receiving from the portraits. "I am sure that the Dark Lord will do better at teaching the brat how to be proper and such once he returns." _I hope he hurries up. Babies are not a part of my job description._ Fenrir just smiled and tried to look confident as he shifted the weight of the baby again. _For the love of Merlin, did the brat eat…rocks?_


	4. Chapter 4

A?N: Thank you so much for all the reviews. I am so glad that so many of you are enjoying the story and letting me know. If you have any questions please let me know and I will try to respond through PM as soon as I can.

Also, thank you BunyipBudgie for letting me know about my error. You are much appreciated.

Happy Reading

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

{Parseltongue}

Time seemed to fly by for Fenrir as he cared for the child of his best friend. Corvus seemed to remain unfazed at the changes in his life, which worried the portraits and his caregiver who felt that the boy should have been having some trouble dealing with the major changes he had been through.

When Fenrir walked into the nursery on their second day in their new home, he found Corvus sitting in his cot quietly playing with a small plushy that had not been in the cot when he had made his way into his own room the night before. Fenrir stopped in the doorway and watched as the child played quietly until he noticed Fenrir standing in the doorway.

"Fen. Fen. Up!" Corvus sat the plushy aside and pulled himself up by the bars on his cot and then held his hands up at Fenrir. Fenrir was a bit taken aback at how delighted the child seemed to be at seeing someone that he had not known for long.

When he entered the study he placed the boy back into the miniature chair that transfigured the day before and applied a sticking charm to the now squirming baby. Calling for Kreacher, he quickly had the boy eating his breakfast while he contemplated how calm the boy was.

While watching the baby eat his bite sized food, Fenrir realized that the boy was in a day outfit instead of the pajamas he had been changed into the night before. He called to Kreacher and asked if he had changed the boy and found out that the elf had changed the boy's nappy and clothes when he woke up earlier. There was a charm on the cot that would notify the elf when the boy needed attending. Kreacher assured the werewolf that he would take care of all dirty nappies, much to Fenrir's relief.

After he had finished his breakfast and Fenrir had finished a cup of tea, he once again picked the boy up to carry him through the house. He took the boy to the hall of portraits where the paintings were life sized instead of the smaller frames that were located throughout the house. Conjuring an arm chair, he sat with the boy in his lap in front of the painting of Regulus. Morrigan quickly appeared in the frame and smiled down at her son.

"Corvus…Corvus…look at me Corvus." Fenrir used his fingers to turn the toddlers face towards him as he said his name. He refused to call the boy by the name of a dead child and felt that one of the first things he would need to do was get the boy to know his own name. "Good boy Corvus. Okay. Corvus, I want you to meet your mummy and daddy."

Fenrir pointed to the two smiling figures in the painting while watching the boy closely. He was expecting the boy to start looking for the Potters when he said mummy and daddy but was surprised with the boy's reaction. Corvus looked from Fenrir to the figures in the painting with a curious expression while chewing on one of his fingers. Fenrir claimed his attention again as he was staring and smiling around his fingers at the painting of the couple that was cooing at the boy from their frame.

"Corvus, look at me. Good boy." Fenrir then placed his hand on his chest. "Fenrir." Moving his hand to the boy's chest he tried to make the boy understand. "Corvus." He continued in this manner until the boy started to repeat his name while patting him on the chest. Fenrir then stood and held the boy on his hip as he repeated the process with the figures in the painting. "Mummy…Daddy…" After a few minutes, Corvus pointed to Morrigan and Regulus and said clearly "mummy…da."

Corvus continued to point between the four of them while saying their names in turn while Fenrir just looked at the boy in surprise.

"Shouldn't that have been harder? Why is he not crying for the Potter's?" None of the portraits in the room could answer his question, and they all were thinking that it was a bit strange that the boy seemed to accept his new home and name so quickly. Walburga thought that he was just repeating words but was not actually making the connection between the names and the people and told the werewolf her theory.

"Corvus…" Fenrir paused as the boy immediately turned his head to look at him. "Um, good boy…Corvus…where's mummy?"

Corvus looked at Fenrir for a moment before turning back to the portrait to point. "Look Fen. Mummy!"

Fenrir looked at the boy for a moment before turning his head to look over at the portrait of Walburga with his brows raised in question. Walburga was just blinking at them from her frame where she had been watching.

"I don't know Fenrir. He may still have a fit when he doesn't see them for a while, but he has been with you for two nights now. I would have thought he would have been upset by now to be around someone he did not know."

The portraits joined Fenrir in staring at the boy that was now happily chewing on his fingers while watching them talk. Fenrir sighed and placed the boy on the floor while sitting back down in his conjured armchair.

"Kreacher." When Kreacher popped into the room Fenrir was quick to grab the boy that had tried to shoot over to the elf. "Kreacher, I want you to bring some toys and child…things…to this room. I will probably have the boy in here a lot so that he can be around as many portraits as possible, so set it up so that it will be child-friendly."

Kreacher nodded and popped away to do as he had been told. Soon Kreacher was back in the room and placing rugs and small furniture around the room so that the boy could be comfortable. Shelves soon appeared with toys, and children's books. The portraits watched from their frames as the Portrait Hall was turned into a child's play-learning room.

"Well, as strange as this idea is, it will probably work out for the best." Orion did not look impressed at the colorful objects that were now decorating the room that was supposed to show the Black family in the best light. "At least we will all be able to watch the boy and help him learn instead of taking turns visiting the nursery. The child-safety wards prevent anyone from being in the frames in there for too long anyway." The other portraits nodded that they agreed and watched as the boy placed on the floor after Kreacher had disappeared.

Corvus stood with one hand gripping Fenrir's pant leg as he looked around the newly transformed room. He looked up at his caregiver with his head cocked to the side.

"Well go on boy, go play." Fenrir sighed at the boy.

Corvus smiled at the word 'play' and again took off like a bullet towards the shelves. He pulled down a large book with animals on the cover and plonked down on the rug so that he could open the book. He was quickly lost in the large moving pictures of magical animals. The book would say the names of the animals and list small bits of information on where they could be found and what they could do magically when the pictures were touched.

Fenrir watched for a few minutes before leaving the room and warding the door so that it could only be opened by an adult. He made his way to the study where he pulled out the folders that had come from the bank and began to sort through the large amounts of paperwork that came with taking care of the heir of two prominent households.

In the Portrait Hall turned playroom, Alaric Loxias, Corvus's great-grandfather was soon sitting on the floor of his painting so that he was as close to the boy as possible.

"What do you have there, Corvus?" Corvus looked up at the man in the painting before turning his book so that he could see the picture. "Ah, that is a mighty fine looking Flitterby. Did you know that a Flitterby could be used in potions? No? Well, once such potion can turn your hair a different color. Do you know where your hair is?" Corvus reached up one of his hands and pulled at his black locks while still looking at the man in the painting. "Very good, Corvus."

The days with in the Black Family Manor continued in this manner, with Corvus eating at his small table in the study, and then spending hours in the Portrait Hall while the different members of his family would talk to him about the toy or book he was looking at and asking him questions to see what he already knew. The portraits and Fenrir were all proud that the boy was bright and already knew some of his colors and could point out his hair, eyes and nose. Their pride grew as they realized that the boy would soak up information like a sponge.

They realized just how bright the boy was after their third day in the house when Fenrir had walked back into the hall to find all the figures in the paintings sitting on the floor leaning up against their canvases so that they were at the boy's level. Walburga explained to Fenrir that the boy had played for a while and listened to Morrigan for a while before realizing that Fenrir had left the room. The paintings had distracted the boy by playing a game to introduce themselves to the boy and teach the boy colors at the same time as they reaffirmed that the boy would recognize his own name; they were still doubting that the boy actually knew his name was Corvus.

They would each call the boy over to their portrait and introduce themselves while telling the boy what color they were wearing. Fenrir had walked in just as Phineas, who had stopped by his frame when Orion had called him, was introducing himself to the wide-eyed boy.

"Hello Corvus, I am Grandfather Phineas, and I am wearing Black." He managed to sound stern and dignified even as he sat on the floor of his painting, explaining to a toddler the color he was wearing.

Corvus had shot towards Fenrir when he had finally noticed that he was back in the room and attached himself to the tall man's leg as he began to babble excitedly. Fenrir just looked down at the boy and tried to look like he understood what the boy was trying to say. Eventually, Corvus pulled on Fenrir's hand and walked around the Hall while poking the portraits with his small fingers. While he was butchering their names, one thing was clear to both Fenrir and the portraits. Corvus was repeating all of their names and naming the colors he was pointing to in the painting.

"Bloody Hell, he's not even two years old." Regulus said incredibly from his frame across the room.

The room fell into silence as they all heard a smaller voice reply. "'oddy bell, da."

Fenrir growled as he scooped up the giggling baby. "That's just perfect."

Regulus just blushed at the looks he was getting from his friend and the other portraits. "Um…opps?"

"Alright, we have a little sponge in the house, so everyone will just have to mind what they say to the boy." Walburga brushed out the wrinkles that had appeared in her dress as she sat on the floor within her painting. The men all nodded their agreement when the women glared at them from their own paintings.

They soon learned that was easier said than done when the boy would walk up to one of the paintings and proudly say a new word that he had learned from somewhere. When Corvus had showed off his new word of 'Uck to his Grandma Walburga, she just blinked at him while hoping desperately that he was trying to say 'Duck,' never mind that he had been able to say that word clearly for a while now.

The household finally found out how the boy was learning words that they had been so careful not to say in his presence when two the two portraits of Orion and Cadeyrn were having a heated discussion in an unused part of the Manor about Dumbledore and his maneuvering within the Wizengamot when they noticed two stormy eyes staring at them from the floor.

Both portraits looked down at their grandson with expressions of bafflement. "Corvus? How in Merlin's name did you get here?" Orion was the first that was able to voice the question. They had entered a frame in an unused and dusty part of the house thinking that they would have no chance of being heard by the little sponge since he was supposed to be safely in his cot sleeping. It was after ten 'o clock and the boy had been put to bed hours ago.

"Grandpa, story." Corvus plonked himself down and wiggled around to get comfortable and looked up at the painting with expectant eyes from his place on the floor.

Cadeyrn moved out of the frame to collect Fenrir with a smile as Orion began to tell a story to the young heir.

"Once upon a time, there was a small boy who liked to climb out of his cot and walk through child safety wards so that he could wonder into places that he should not go. One night the boy wondered through his house and got lost, and the boy did not know what to do. So the smart boy walked over to an empty portrait frame and started to knock." Orion knocked on his own frame to show the boy what he meant. Now that he knew that the boy was wondering around the manor, he wanted the boy to be able to let someone know where he was if he was lost. Kreacher would not be able to be pulled into this section of the house as it had been closed off to all but the portraits for a long time. _Fenrir will have to update the wards so that the whole house is in use if the boy can get through the wards._ "When the boy knocked on the frame, someone came to find out who was making all that noise. When they saw the young boy, they summoned the boy's guardian and made sure that the boy was all safe and ready to be put back into bed where he was supposed to be."

As he spoke the last little bit of his quickly made up story, the door opened to show a rumpled Fenrir. Fenrir sighed as he picked up the boy from the floor and nodded to the two gentlemen that were in the frame before disappearing back down the dark hallway.

Corvus hung limply in the arms of Fenrir as he was carried back towards his room. The portraits were all awake now and talking about the boy as they passed by. Once they entered the nursery, Fenrir placed the boy back into his cot and just stared down at the innocent face of his best friend's child.

"If I leave you here, you are just going to escape again, aren't you?" Fenrir watched as the stormy eyes seemed to brighten at his question. Looking at the door that led to the hallway, he pondered his options. He knew that the room was heavily warded with child-safety wards and they were all still intact, and he did not know any wards that would be guaranteed to keep the boy in the room if he was just bypassing the existing wards as though they did not exist. "Alright brat, come on."

He reached back into the cot and picked up a delighted Corvus before disappearing through the connecting door to his own room. He crawled back between his sheets without losing his grip on the boy. Making sure that he had tucked the boy in as securely as he could, he tightened his arms around the brat and drifted back to sleep with one thought on his mind. _The Dark Lord better hurry up and get here before I lose the brat._

After finding out that Corvus was wondering around the manor when they thought he had been sleeping or safe in his room, the portraits took to wondering the frames throughout the manor at all hours. No longer would they all sleep at the same time. A large frame was added to the nursery to replace the smaller frame so that they could also check to make sure that he was still in his room periodically during the night, but they were never able to stay in the nursery for very long as the wards on the room interfered with the magic in the frame. These measures, however, did not stop the boy from being able to wonder around while the portraits and werewolf did not even realize he had wondered off again. Most nights Fenrir would give up and tuck him into his bed so that he could keep ahold of the boy.

If paintings could look frazzled, they would have from continually wondering the many frames in the large manor when the boy would start exploring. Fenrir was exhausted, as was Kreacher, who would be continually pulled by the young heir to his location if there were no frames within his reach for him to knock on.

The portraits had debated about the boy's ability to get through the child-safety wards. They were all pretty much in agreement that it was not accidental magic as the boy seemed to wonder through the wards whenever he wanted, just like he would summon Kreacher whenever he wanted. They were still waiting to see if he would summon something like he had done the first night with the plushy.

Kreacher popped into the study on day with Corvus holding onto the tired elf like a limpet and chewing on his floppy ears. Corvus had found a small unused storage room and had pulled the elf to him when he realized that he did not know where he was.

"Kreacher is being sorry Lord Grey, but Kreacher is being thinking that we is being needing more elves to bes cleaning and cooking and helping to watch the Little Master."

Fenrir looked at the elf as he stood still while Corvus chewed on his ears to make his gums feel better. The boy did not whine much, but he chewed on everything he could put into his mouth.

"Alright Kreacher, find another elf that will be loyal to the House of Black. If you can find two that you think will be good elves, bring them to me and I will bind them to the Houses of Black and Loxias. You will be in charge of them. One of them can become the personal elf of the Dark Lord when he arrives." Kreacher nodded as Fenrir stood and made his way over to where he was standing. The old elf gave a relieved sigh as Fenrir detached the boy from him and carried him over to his little table for lunch.

Corvus gave a little whine as the sticking charm was applied to his bottom; it was one of the few things that the boy would express his displeasure at. Fenrir just looked at the pouting boy tiredly while he wondered how much longer the Dark Lord was going to take. The boy began to eat as soon as his food was on the table and Fenrir took a moment to lean his head against the back of the couch.

He had finally gotten the finances settled for both houses that Corvus was heir to. Fenrir was quite proud to say that the boy would be one of the wealthiest wizards in the world by the time he reached his majority. Had Dumbledore been able to get his hands on the boy's vaults there was no doubt that the boy would have been left with nothing to his name. As it was, Dumbledore had already emptied the Potter Trust Vault of its yearly 10,000 Galleons and then had the temerity to ask the Goblins to either refill the vault early or allow him access to the Potter Vault so that he could gather some things for Harry Potter's care.

The Goblins had denied Dumbledore access to the Potter Family Vault and told him that there was no way to refill the Potter Trust Vault earlier. Dumbledore had then told the Goblins that he really needed to pick up some family artifacts for the boy, to help him adapt to no longer being around his family, and the Goblins took great delight in telling the Headmaster that he would not be able to access the Potter Family Vault for any reason what so ever and that the Potter boy would not be able to access the Potter Family Vault until he reached his majority. Dumbledore had finally left the bank in a huff at not getting what he wanted from the bank.

Dragontooth had included a detailed account of the interaction with the Headmaster when he had sent the inventory list for the artifacts in Black and Loxias Vaults. Dragontooth had managed to inventory the Loxias Vaults in such a way that they could see what exactly had come from the Potter Vaults. Fenrir would soon be making a trip to the bank to pick up some of the rarer books that had been in the Potter Library so that they could be added to the manor library. Fenrir thought about collecting the invisibility cloak, but did not want to take the chance that the boy would come across it somehow and decide to play 'find me' with it.

Checking to make sure that the boy was still busy eating, Fenrir picked up his copy of the Daily Profit. He had been amazed at the things that had made the news lately. The Portraits had all laughed when he had shared the article about Sirius Black being arrested and sent to Azkaban for murdering thirteen muggles, Peter Pettigrew, and betraying the Potters to the Dark Lord. They spent more than a few hours talking about the irony that the boy was the first Black to end up in Prison in over three Centuries, and he was the one that left the family because they were 'no good.'

It was Regulus that pointed out that his brother had not received a trial and that Sirius was supposed to be the Godfather of the Potter boy. If he had been free, he would have taken the boy from the muggles and raised Corvus as Harry Potter. Dumbledore was in a position to make sure that his follower received a trial, but it was obvious that Dumbledore just wanted Sirius out of the picture for the moment.

It was during this conversation that Remus Lupin was brought up. Regulus knew that Fenrir had been the one to turn Remus when he was young and was one of the few that knew the story in full. Regulus asked if there was any way that Remus could be maneuvered away from Dumbledore's influence because of everything that had happened recently.

Fenrir was simply unwilling to risk putting Corvus around the other werewolf. "I just don't know Reg. Remus should have been able to smell the same thing that I did if he was ever close to the boy. I don't want to risk that he knew what was going on and was alright with it. It is very possible that the Wolfsbane is able to dull his senses or that it can influence him in some way. I can't let him near the brat until I know without a doubt that he would be on our side." Regulus had nodded his agreement of Fenrir's choice.

Another news article had detailed an attack on the Longbottom family by Bellatrix Lastrange and her husband Rodolphus, his brother Rabastan, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. Fenrir had winced when he had learned that they had been taken to prison after a sham of a trial.

According to wizarding law, Bellatrix had the right to demand satisfaction from Frank and Alice Longbottom. They had cursed her while she had been caught in the cross fire of the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix members. She had not been a Death Eater at the time and had just been unlucky enough to have been to Diagon Alley to buy baby furniture when the fighting had started. It had been Frank that had cast the curse that had ended her pregnancy and it was his wife that had cursed her with an infertility charm so that she would 'not be able to create more dark wizards.' They were still not able to find the counter charm for the curse or find out if there even was one.

The paper had reported that she had used the Crucio curse on the Longbottoms until they were insane, but Fenrir knew that she had used a curse of her own creation that would lock the Longbottoms in their minds where they would relive their worst memories over and over as though they were surrounded by Dementors. Fenrir also knew that the paper was wrong when it said that she was after the Longbottom boy because he was a threat to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord had never thought of the Longbottom boy as a threat since he was not born on the same day as the Potter boy, but he had wanted the boy's parents to pay for what they had done to the Lastrange family just as he had wanted the Potters to pay for what James had done to Regulus.

The newest thing of note in the Daily Prophet was the announcement that Dumbledore would be taking the roll of Proxy for the House of Potter during the first Wizengamot session of the New Year. Fenrir sat the paper aside and looked at the boy in front of him as he continued to eat quietly. _Great, now I might actually have to go to the Wizengamot sessions and be his proxy. I suppose I could claim my seat at the same time. The Dark Lord has wanted me to do it for a while, but I suppose that there is no getting around it now. I hope the Dark Lord comes soon. I don't know if I should claim proxy for the seats, thus letting people know that there is an heir to the two houses, or if I should let them lay unclaimed for the moment._

Corvus finished his meal and was now bouncing in his seat while looking at Fenrir with his stormy eyes pleading for the werewolf to pick him up. Sighing, Fenrir stood and picked the boy up and decided to take him to the Portrait Hall and try to get the boy tired out enough that he would actually stay in his room that night. Noticing the Yule decorations that Kreacher had begun to put up, he realized that he had been taking care of the boy for a little over a month and he would have to get the boy something for his first Yule as Corvus Black soon.

He was almost at the stairs when a knock sounded at the front door. He switched directions when he remembered that he had just sent Kreacher off to locate more elves. Another knock sounded as he finally reached the door with Corvus now tugging idly at his hair. Sighing as he removed the little hands from his hair and pulled open the door.

"Hello Fenrir." Standing on the doorstep was a tired Tom Riddle. "I got your note. It was…interesting."

"Yes My Lord, very interesting. I have lots to tell you. But first, here you go." With undisguised glee, Fenrir handed the baby in his arms to the Dark Lord and let out a sigh of relief. "Welcome home My Lord. The study is this way." He did not care that his greeting was less than proper and made him sound slightly unhinged; The Dark Lord was back and could finally help keep up with his magical heir.

The Dark Lord stood on the door step of the Number Twelve Grimmauld Place staring at the little boy that he now had in his arms while Corvus stared at the new man that was holding him while chewing on his fingers. After a few moments Tom began to follow Fenrir through the house. "Intresting."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Surprise, two chapters in two days. The next chapter will probably be posted in the next week or two. Thank you everyone for the reviews, follows and favorites. You guys are amazing and I love the response this story is getting.

I was sad to hear that Alan Rickman passed away today. He was a great actor and was one of my favorites. I do believe that he was the best choice for the character Severus Snape, and in my opinion made the character one of the best in the Harry Potter series. I will always see him as I read my books. Alan Rickman...you will be missed...Always.

Happy Reading

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

{Parseltongue}

Tom had almost reached the room that Fenrir disappeared into when Fenrir reappeared with a frown on his face. Raising a brow and looking over his friend, he shifted the boy so that he was settled a little bit more firmly in his grasp and less in danger of being dropped at any moment. "You look more exhausted than I feel…and I was punished by Magic."

Fenrir rubbed the back of his neck as he glared at the boy who was sitting calmly in his Lord's arms as though he had not been running him ragged since they had arrived at the Black Family Manor. "Yes, I guess I am tired. We should head to the Portrait Hall instead of the study." Tom just looked at the werewolf for an explanation. "The Portraits will all want to talk to you and there is more stuff in there that will tire out the boy. Maybe the brat will stay in his room tonight."

Following the werewolf, Tom looked down into the boy's eyes and tried to figure out what the child had done to one of his toughest followers to make him so exhausted. The boy just smiled around the fingers he had in his mouth and looked up at the Dark Lord with innocence. Pulling the fingers out of the boy's mouth, Tom said firmly. "Don't chew on your hand." Corvus just blinked at Tom and tried to pull his hand back to his mouth. After a few moments of pulling at his hand, Corvus blinked his eyes at Tom and laid his head on his shoulder. _I don't know why the wolf is so tired. That was ridiculously easy._

Stepping into the Portrait Hall, Tom could not help but stare at the colorful rugs, toys and furniture that had not been present the last time he had visited the house. Corvus soon began to wriggle around in his arms, almost causing a startled Tom to drop him. Tom quickly placed the little boy on the floor and watched as he shot over to a small book shelf. Tom just stared around the room for a moment before making his way to the second arm chair that Fenrir had conjured for him. As soon as he was completely in the room, he was being greeted by most of the Portraits in the room.

Taking a seat, Tom listened as the Portraits told him that they were glad that he was alright and that he had been able to find the manor with no problems. They also explained that Fenrir had arranged for a suite to be made ready for his arrival. After a few moments, the hall finally quieted down.

"I must say Fenrir, the note that you left with the Goblins was a bit shocking. Do you want to explain just what is going on and how I have a new magical heir that we did not know about?"

Tom listened as Fenrir told him about finding the child he thought was Harry Potter on a muggle doorstep and how he had taken him to the bank because he could smell Regulus on the boy. When Tom heard about Dumbledore's interference and about how the boy had been stolen from the hospital to replace the already dead Harry Potter, his icy blue eyes flashed in his anger. His anger continued to build as he learned about the spells and blocks that had been on the boy and how Dumbledore seemed to be setting the boy up as his own personal weapon to use against the Death Eaters and Tom.

Tom looked at the boy with a calculating gaze when he learned that the child was wondering the manor all the time because he was able to get through the child-safety wards, and narrowed his eyes when he learned that the boy seemed not to be very distressed over the changes he had been since the Potter's had died. He agreed that there was something not right with the reaction they had received from the boy. Even he knew that a child should be upset when their primary caregivers were not around all of a sudden-he had seen it many times in the orphanage- and Corvus should be especially distraught since the boy had seen him kill Lily Potter.

"Corvus…come here." Tom was impressed that the boy immediately looked up when he heard his name and decided that Fenrir had done a good job so far when the boy stood up and came over to him without making a fuss.

"What are you thinking My Lord?" Morrigan asked from her frame as she watched her son make his way to the Dark Lord.

"I want to know why he is being so accepting of everything. I am going to look at his memories to find out why he seems to not care that the Potters have not been around." He picked the boy up so that he was on his lap facing him. Tom pulled the boy's fingers out of his mouth and raised one brow as he looked at the boy. "I also want to know why he is not screaming bloody murder at seeing and being held by the man who killed Lily Potter right in front of him." Tom looked up when he heard cries of 'no' from around the room. He was perplexed when he saw that Fenrir had slumped in his seat and placed a hand over his eyes as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"'Loody." Corvus seemed quite happy to repeat what he had just heard. Tom blinked down at the boy that was grinning up at him with pride as he again started to chew on his fingers. Tom looked at the werewolf as he pulled the boy's hand away from his mouth again.

"Ah, so…the boy repeats everything he hears?"

Fenrir just nodded at the question.

"Wonderful. Alright. Let's see what you are thinking." Tom held the boy's face so that he would be able to maintain direct eye contact with the boy and said quietly, "Legilimens." Fenrir and the portraits watched as the Dark Lord held the spell for half an hour before pulling out of the boy's memories. Tom handed the boy off to a startled Fenrir while he began to pace behind the armchairs. Corvus just wiggled until he was put back down so that he could return to the book he had been playing with before he had been called over.

"What is it?" Regulus asked anxiously as he watched Tom pace around the room. It was obvious that the Dark Lord did not like what he had seen.

Without stopping, the Dark Lord began to explain what he had learned from viewing the boy's memories. Fenrir and the portraits could only listen in disbelief. "The reason that the boy is so content is because he was more attached to the Potter elf that was looking after him than to the Potters themselves. They only bothered with the boy when someone was over and wanted to see the baby. When everyone would leave, they would just stick him back in his nursery with the elf looking after him and then ignore him until someone else was in the house."

"But was he not able to get out of the nursery like he does here?"

Tom finally paused in his pacing so that he could look at the portrait of Regulus. "No, I think that the blocks that he had placed on him prevented that. His memories show that he was always tired and almost never left the nursery, I did not see any evidence of accidental magic while he was with the Potters. It is plainly obvious that there should have been more. He only vaguely thought of the Potters as 'mummy' and 'daddy' before he was brought here. He does not seem to think of them at all since he has been here with Fenrir. His memories are full of interactions with the portraits here and with Fenrir, who he seems extremely attached to, and also a very old elf that reminds him of the Potter elf that was taking care of him. When he thinks Mummy and daddy now, he is thinking of you." Regulus and Morrigan smiled as they looked over at their son.

"You got all of that from just a half hour?" Fenrir asked incredulously. Legilimency generally took a lot of time to sort through memories to find any helpful information.

"The boy has a surprisingly ordered mind. And I think that he has an eidetic memory…or perfect recall. He remembers things from before his first birthday and the memory for the birthday was crystal clear; as was the interactions he has had with all of you." Tom smirked at Fenrir, causing the werewolf to shift in his seat uncomfortably. "I know that he the memory of the 'doggie' carrying him away in the night and snuggling with him to keep away the cold is one of his favorite memories."

Fenrir growled as Regulus fell out of his chair onto the floor of his painting as he laughed uncontrollably. "Doggie?" Fenrir glared at the Dark Lord for sharing such a thing.

"No wonder the boy picks up on things so fast." Orion said as he looked at the boy with fondness and pride.

"He will do well for our houses." Tom sat himself back onto the chair and closed his eyes.

"I thought that it would take least six months for you to be strong enough to return. Do you need anything?" Fenrir looked at the man carefully as he sat beside him.

"I ended up close to a small magical town in Belgium of all places. They had a store that I was able to get supplies to do a Strengthening Ritual with. Luckily I was able to get to the Gringotts branch before performing the vengeance ritual I had originally planned on performing upon awakening, which would have caused me to be relocated again, only Merlin knows where, if I had performed it. The Strengthening Ritual was enough to get me back here. I think I may actually return to that town in the future however, they had a surprisingly nice variety of stores; I even found a snake that I decided would be a perfect familiar. She is actually at the bank with the rest of my belongings. The manor we were using before will no longer suit. I am not sure if Dumbledore or his people know of its location."

"As soon as Kreacher returns, I will send him to pick up your things. He is getting some more elves. One can be your personal elf since you do not already have one."

Tom nodded at this information as he continued to lean against the back of the chair. He opened his eyes and looked down when he felt small hands pulling at his pants leg. As soon Corvus had his complete attention, he held up his arms and demanded. "Up."

Lifting the boy up so that he was back in his lap, Tom took a moment to observe the boy that was his heir carefully. "You are a demanding little boy, aren't you? Just like your father was." Tom smirked at the sputtering that came from one of the frames.

"What do you want the boy to call you? He calls me Fen since he can't say Fenrir yet." Fenrir hid a yawn behind his hand as he watched his Lord observe the boy.

Tom continued to gaze at the boy with a thoughtful look on his face. "Is there any chance of him being able to call me my Lord?"

Fenrir snorted at the question. "Highly doubtful. It is more than likely that he will shorten anything you tell him to call you. Such as Voldie for Voldemort." He held up both of his hands when Tom narrowed his gaze in his direction. "Just letting you know. He has done it to most of the portraits already."

"Hn. I suppose I can deal with something like Grandfather. He is my heir after all." Tom looked back at the little boy in his lap. "What do you think? Do you want to call me Grandfather?" Tom decided then that he would never resort to the sickening baby talk he had heard a red headed witch speaking while he was making his way through the alley on his way to the Black Family Manor. The woman was surrounded by a gaggle of ragged looking children and was talking to the child in her arms as though he was an idiot. Tom shuddered at the thought of the woman and her brood.

Corvus looked at the man who was holding him and tilted his head to the side as though he was thinking extremely deep thoughts. Tom could not prevent his lips from lifting into a slight smile at the expression on the little face, the boy defiantly had the looks of a Black. Finally, Corvus seemed to come to a decision. He patted Tom on the chest and said decisively. "Papa." Corvus leaned over the stunned man's arm and picked up the book he had brought with him to the armchair. "Look Papa…'itterby" Corvus was pointing to the picture of the Flitterby that was in his favorite magical creature book while Tom just stared at the top of his head with wide eyes.

"That sounds nothing like Grandfather." Tom just glared when Fenrir started to laugh.

Fenrir was spared his Lord's ire when Kreacher popped into the room with two younger elves following right behind him.

"Kreacher is being finding two elves to be helping Lord Grey. This ones is being Mango and this ones is being Cherry." Kreacher pointed out each elf as he introduced them. "They is beings already trained and wills be loyal and good house elves."

"Wonderful Kreacher. Go to Gringotts and pick up the Dark Lords things and bring them to the rooms you have set up for him. He has a familiar, so take care not to upset her." Kreacher nodded before popping back out to complete his task. "My Lord, Do you have a preference in personal elf?"

"I suppose that I will take the one called Mango." Tom leaned forward so that he could place his hand on the head of the elf that stepped forward. "I take the house elf known as Mango into the service of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Slytherin." The house elf bowed as a flash of light signified that she was now bound to a family. "Kreacher will show you my rooms when he returns with my things. You will make sure that you help out the Black family elves when you are not busy with my needs. This is my heir. Treat him as you would treat me."

Mango nodded and stepped back towards the wall. Fenrir repeated the bonding process with Cherry and gave out his instructions. After a few minutes, Kreacher popped back into the room and reported that everything had been placed in the Dark Lord's new rooms. The elves then popped away so that the new elves could learn their new duties within the Black Family Manor.

"Have you had any contact with any of the other Death Eaters?" Tom asked as he allowed Corvus to wiggle off of his lap so that he could go play with something else.

Fenrir explained about Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan, and Barty being sent to Azkaban. Tom was displeased when he had learned that they had been imprisoned after Bellatrix had sought recompense for the actions of the Longbottoms against herself and her family.

"What about Lucius, Narcissa and Severus?" Tom was trying to figure out the best way he could half of his Inner Circle out of prison with the least amount of stress. "Are they in prison as well?"

"No. I have not tried to get into contact with them since everything happened." When Tom looked at him questioningly, he explained. "I did not want to risk allowing someone to see Corvus in case you knew something that I did not. Severus has been absolved of all wrong doings, by Albus Dumbledore of all people, and the Malfoy's have been strangely silent. I am not sure how they have managed to stay out of trouble so far since having the mark is pretty much a one way ticket to Azkaban if you are caught with it. I thought it best to wait until you returned to try and get in contact with anyone."

"Hn. Give me your arm." Tom grasped the wrist of his follower while he studied the mark that had be proudly worn by his followers since they had decided to stop allowing others to dictate how they used their magic or lived their lives. Now that mark was causing his followers problems. Pursing his lips, he brought his wand to the mark he had created.

While he was calling his Inner Circle to his location, he was also moving and changing the mark on every one of his followers. The mark slithered up Fenrir's arm to come to rest on the back of his neck. Though it was in a different location, the spell that was used would also mask it from the gaze of anyone that was not carrying the mark themselves or that could speak Parseltongue. Hopefully this would protect his followers and give him some leeway when he tried to get those in Azkaban out legally.

Fenrir shivered as the mark found its new resting place. Hearing pops outside the manor indicating that the rest of the Inner Circle had arrived, Fenrir stood. "I will let the others in, My Lord." Fenrir quickly left the room while rubbing the back of his neck where his mark was tingling.

Tom looked around the room while comparing it to the last room he had met his Death Eaters in. This room was full of toys and bright colors and was a far cry from his normal staid meeting room. Sighing, he stood and watched the boy look through a book as he waited for his followers to enter.

Outside, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy apparated in front of the Black Family Manor in confusion, only to be joined by Severus Snape only moments later.

"Isn't this the mutt's house?" Severus sneered.

"This is the ancestral Black Home. Why would we be called here?" Lucius was looking around to make sure that they were not being watched.

"What if something is wrong? Our marks moved as we were being called." Narcissa looked like she was close to tears as she clung to her husband's arm. The three Death Eaters tightened their grips on their wands as the door to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place opened only to stare in shock when Fenrir stepped through the door. All three were soon rushing towards the werewolf with questions falling like rain from their lips.

Once they were in the house and Fenrir was able to get the door closed, he turned to the three adults that were still asking him questions.

"Would you wait for a moment? Just follow me." Fenrir huffed and led the group up the stairs and into the Portrait Hall where the Dark Lord was waiting. When they entered the room, Narcissa started to cry as Lucius and Severus bowed to their Lord.

"My Lord, I am so glad that you have returned. There were so many rumors about the Potter boy." Lucius murmured.

"Yes. It seems that everything is not as it seemed. Sit down all of you." Tom sat back in his armchair and conjured a couch for the Malfoys and another armchair for Severus. "Tell me what I have missed in my absence." He looked towards Severus with one brow raised.

Clearing his throat as he settled into his chair he began to report to the Dark Lord. "Dumbledore has been telling everyone that will listen that the Potter brat was saved by his mother's love." Severus winced at the theory Dumbledore was spouting to all and sundry as he reported. How people looked up to the man he would never know. "He will not tell anyone where the boy is, but since he is supposedly protected by his mother's blood sacrifice or some such, I would think that he is with Petunia. He has said that there are wards there that will keep the boy safe and that when you return, the boy will be ready to… defeat… you…Is that a baby?" Severs came to a halt as he looked down at a toddler who was looking up at him with stormy grey eyes that were ringed with purple and had what looked like purple lightning streaking from the rims towards the pupils. The boy held up his arms expectantly while the Potions Master just blinked down at the small boy.

"Hn. Yes. That would be a baby. I believe he wants you to pick him up Severus." Tom was obviously amused at his followers bemused expressions.

Severus looked up in horror at his Lord for a moment before gingerly picking up the small child and placing him on his lap. Corvus quickly amused himself by playing with the many buttons on the Potion Master's robes. "Why am I holding a baby?" Severus asked the room desperately in confusion.

"Whose baby is that, my Lord?" Narcissa asked while leaning around her husband to get a closer look at the adorable child that was playing with her friend's buttons.

"I apologize; let me introduce you to the heir of the houses of Black, Loxias, Riddle, and Slytherin. He is Regulus's child." With this announcement, the boy was scooped up from a relived Severus by a sobbing Narcissa. Lucius and Severus looked around the room and finally noticed all the child paraphernalia surrounding them. The portraits were all looking on with interest, and more than a few were smirking at the Potions Master.

"I did not know that my cousin had been able to have a child before he was murdered. Why did I not know of this?" Narcissa looked at Tom, hoping that he would explain.

Tom sighed and gestured for Fenrir to tell everyone what had happened. By the time the story had been repeated for the second time that day, both Malfoys and Severus were livid. After he heard what the Dark Lord had found in his memories, Severus did not even protest when the boy made his way back to him to be picked up so that he could continue to play with his buttons.

"I am unsure, my Lord, if I will be able to be around Dumbledore while knowing what he has done." Severus whispered as he held the child in his lap. "He has asked that I teach at Hogwarts, what would you have me do?"

"For now, I think it would be best that you take the position and let him believe that you are on the side of the light. Your marks have been moved for your protection, but if you will be able to keep an eye on him until I decide if I will take up my seats or not it would be beneficial. According to his own words, Lord Voldemort was vanquished that night by the boy he is calling Harry Potter. He will be able to do nothing if I take my place as Tom Riddle, Lord Slytherin. Actually, if you act as though you have never met me, Tom Riddle, you may be able to stay under his nose longer. If he believes that I always used a glamor for meetings, it might work."

"My Lord, I was thinking that I would need to claim both the Loxias and Black seats as proxy for Corvus. I was unsure if it should be done now or if I should wait for a while to keep Dumbledore from realizing that there is a Black heir." Fenrir shifted in his seat. "I suppose that I could claim my seat at the same time if I claim the Proxys."

"You should claim both the proxy seats and your own. With the votes from the Grey, Black and Loxias houses as well as the Slytherin votes, there should be no problems off setting any votes that Dumbledore has now that he has claimed the Potter by proxy. He will lose those anyway within a few years when it becomes clear that the Potter boy is dead."

The adults continued to talk and make plans for the future. Tom wanted to try and get his Death Eaters that were in Azkaban out as soon as possible so that they would not have prolonged exposure to the dementors; it was decided that they would try their best to get them released without having to use the fact that Sirius Black had not had a trial at all to help push their case. Sirius Black being out of prison could both be a good thing in keeping Dumbledore busy, or it could alert the old fool earlier than they wished that the Potter boy was not where he thought he was.

Severus watched along with the Malfoys as their Lord and the most notorious werewolf in Britain interacted with Corvus Black. The little boy was not at all shy and would periodically join the adults and lift his arms so that they would pick him up. Lucius was horrified when the boy immediately grabbed fistfuls of his hair as soon as he was placed on his lap, and then even more horrified when the boy wanted to chew on the snake head on his cane. Corvus continued to be fascinated with the buttons on Severus's cloak and would snuggle into Narcissa anytime she picked him up.

The boy was obviously most comfortable with Fenrir, who would swoop down on the boy when he was making a mess or trying to leave the room and would hold him in his arms, where the boy would just dangle limply like a puppy.

The first time that Corvus had toddled over to Tom and demanded his 'papa' pick him up, the three adults were shocked in to speechlessness and had to be reminded of what they were talking about before they could continue the conversation. They ended up spending the rest of the evening in the Portrait Hall making plans and watching over the Black heir played.

As the Malfoys and Severus stood to depart and return to their own homes, Mango popped into the room. "Master, there is being a basket in yours rooms that is hissing and is being moving." The poor elf looked as though it was going to break out in hysterics.

"Ah Nagini has awakened. Bring me the basket." The elf nodded frantically and popped away, only to return in a moment with a basket that was definitely hissing and shaking. "This is my new familiar, Nagini." {Nagini, you are not to eat any of my followers, elves, or my heir.} Tom hissed at the closed basket.

{Fine. I will not eat the elves, or any small or large humans. Let me out.} The hissing from the basket was accompanied by even more shaking from the basket.

"She will not eat any of you, this is Nagini." Tom lifted the basket and allowed the large green snake to slither out of what was obviously a basket that held extension charms on the inside to make it larger than it looked. The snake coiled itself beside Tom so that her head was held off the floor. {Nagini, this is…}

Tom watched in shock as Corvus shot like across the room at full speed and attached himself around the neck of the extremely large and dangerous snake that he had adopted as his familiar. Fenrir had tried to catch the boy as he ran past, as had Severus and the Malfoys, but they were not quick enough and they were soon looking at the sight of the boy happily hugging the snake in horror.

{Mine.} Giggled Corvus as he looked from the snake to Tom and back again.

"Did he just…?" Narcissa sat back down with her hand across her chest as she tried to convince her heart to stay within her chest where it belonged. She knew that the Dark Lord would never allow any harm to come to his heir so she felt that the boy was in no immediate danger, but it seemed as though her heart disagreed vehemently.

"Yes, yes he did." Severus took a deep breath as the snake made no attempt to strike at the child. The snake actually seemed to be hissing at the boy who was still giggling.

Tom looked down at his familiar and his heir as Nagini hissed to the boy she was now calling his 'hatchling.' Corvus was still holding on tight to the snake as she hissed and nudged the boy with her nose. The boy was turning out to be more of a surprise than he had thought.

"Interesting."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thank you very much for all the reviews. I am glad that you guys are enjoying this story. If you have any questions, please let me know and I will do my best to reply though PM.

Happy Reading!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

{Parseltongue}

The occupants of the Black Manor found themselves very busy during the month of December. Tom and Fenrir were both filling out paperwork in preparation for taking their seat on the Wizengamot at the first session of the year. Tom could not wait to see Dumbledore's expression when he took the seat of Slytherin at the same time that Dumbledore took the proxy seat for Potter.

Fenrir was also planning his inquiry into the Lestrange trial. He would be able to request that Bellatrix and the two Lestrange men, as well as Barty have a full trial with Veritaserum. This would ensure that their names would be cleared and that they would be able to address Bellatrix's existing issues with the House of Longbottom.

Because he would be sitting the Proxy seat for the House of Black, Fenrir had the right to address any legal issues of members of that house, even if they were married into another house at the time. This also allowed him to avoid bringing up Sirius Black. He had no rights over disowned members of the family. It would be up to someone else to mention the fact that Sirius Black had not received a trial.

If that were to happen, Tom and Fenrir decided that it would not cause them too much trouble since the Potter boy was supposed to be safely at his aunt's house and they could simply explain that Fenrir had been the guardian for the Black Heir since his Naming Ceremony. After checking with the Goblins, they found that there was no way to tell when the ceremony had been done.

They were not worried about Corvus reacting to anyone that the Potter's had known as he not had very much contact with them at all. According to Tom those memories were so unimportant to the boy that he would have to search out those memories to make connections people he could come in contact with. Not that they were planning on having Corvus interact with anyone that the Potter's were friends with.

Severus continued to come to the manor to speak with Tom about what Dumbledore was doing and to make plans regarding how he would act while teaching. Tom was furious that Dumbledore had told Severus that it would probably be better if he only showed favor to the Slytherin students while terrorizing the other houses. Dumbledore thought that it would help cement his place in Voldemort's ranks when he had to return to his spying duties.

Tom suggested that Severus mention to the Headmaster that he would be able to keep an eye on any student that was showing interest in the Dark Arts if he were to be more open to the other houses. Tom had a few other suggestions, but felt that it would probably be best if Severus did not teach at Hogwarts if Dumbledore was going to try a turn every other house against Slytherin.

As Lord Slytherin, he hoped that he could keep the old man from destroying the school, but he would only have limited say as he was only one of the founder heirs. He did not know of any other heirs and would have to make do with what he had.

Lucius and Narcissa continued to come by the Manor. Most of the time, Lucius would disappear into the study with Fenrir and Tom while Narcissa would play with Corvus. She found that he liked to play with the toys, but would mostly bring her books for her to read to him while he sat snuggled in her lap.

One cold Tuesday, Lucius came through the floo while holding his son in one arm. The white haired boy looked around with wide eyes as Lucius explained that Narcissa was sick with a cold and the house elves were all dealing with plans for the Yule ball while she was ill. He thought it would be good for Corvus to have someone his own age to interact with.

After pulling off Draco's heavy outer cloak, Lucius followed Tom up to the Portrait Hall. They both thought it would be better to speak up there where they could keep an eye on the boys rather than leaving them alone to get into trouble. Lucius was nervous at having Draco interact with his Lord's heir as he was well aware that the boy did not like to share and was already a bit spoiled, but he really could not have left him at home.

Tom called Corvus over as soon as they entered the room while Lucius stood his son on the floor in front of him. "Corvus, this is Draco. Draco, this is Corvus." Both men stood back and watched as the two boys stared at each other. Neither of them were sure how this meeting of the two heirs would go.

All of a sudden, both boys launched themselves at each other, startling the two men. Tom and Lucius only relaxed when they heard both boys call out "Mine" at the same time. Holding onto each other's hands, the two boys were soon settled in Corvus's favorite nook and were showing each other pictures in the many books that Corvus had.

Walburga spoke from her Portrait with a small laugh. "Well, that has to be the most interesting meeting of heirs I have ever seen. They normally immediately start to fight." The other portraits agreed as they too watched the two boys interact.

Tom and Lucius sat in the armchairs as they watched the two boys. Nagini curled up beside Tom and began to dose. She was spending most of her time sleeping in Tom's quarters because it was so cold, even with the fires going.

"I have to say that I am relieved. He did not react well at all when he met the young Nott heir. I think he hit him on the head with a book." Lucius let out a relieved breath.

"Hn. I am surprised as well. I was not sure how Corvus would react with he was faced with someone his own age. I have to say, I am surprised that they declared ownership of each other and then rushed off to play. I am not sure, but I don't think that is normal."

Phineas spoke from Orion's frame. It is not a normal reaction. I think that the majority of heirs react much like the young Malfoy did when faced with the young Nott heir. However, I remember when my son met his cousin for the first time. They were immediately fast friends, and they remained that way until they died." Phineas always spoke as though he was imparting great words of wisdom, even when he was telling a story to Corvus.

"It will be a good thing for them to interact with each other." Regulus said from his Portrait. "They will not be alone when they go to school if they are good friends before then. Lucius, have you thought about sending Draco to Durmstrang?"

"Durmstrang? No, I don't think that Narcissa would want him to be that far away. Are you thinking of sending Corvus?" Lucius looked at Tom inquisitively.

"I am thinking about it. He is on the list for both schools since his mother went there. They have a much better selection of classes available. Of course, there is the fact that Dumbledore will not be there." Tom looked over and saw that the boys were still looking at books. "Corvus has an eidetic memory and absorbs knowledge at a phenomenal rate. Durmstrang offers accelerated classes for those that are more advanced. If he goes there, he may do better."

Lucius nodded. He could understand the desire to see one's heir be the best and have the best education available. "Draco is also on the list for both schools. I may see if Narcissa will be open to Draco attending Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts. Maybe we can find a Manor closer to the school so that it will not be an issue of distance."

Tom looked at Lucius with a thoughtful look. "I think there is a Riddle home near there, and possibly a Black home. That is something we will have to look into closer to the time they go to school. I wonder if I could get Severus to teach there if Dumbledore continues with this nonsense about him treating the other three houses like they are second rate. It is like he wants the other houses to hate Slytherin."

"I think that you are right about that. If he is planning on using the Potter boy as some sort of Light Icon, then he would want the world to see Slytherin house as evil. It is the house that the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters were in after all. I was in Diagon Alley and heard some children talking about the snakes and how they were all evil and had probably followed you."

Tom looked at the boys while he thought. "The old man will be in for a surprise when he learns that the Potter boy is dead-again. I am not sure what to do about the Hogwarts situation other than pulling Severus out. He cannot hold the mark over Severus now that I have moved and cloaked it. Maybe it can get better once the old man is gone from the school. I think that would be the only way I would feel comfortable with Corvus attending that school."

"Hn." Lucius shifted in his chair. "Are you and Fenrir planning on attending the Yule Ball this year? Corvus can stay with Draco in his nursery since they get along. There may be a few other heirs there as well. I know some of the other Dark families would love to see all of you."

"I think that we will. You will have to have an elf attending them at all times as Corvus can still get through child-safety wards. I have even tried some of the older ones. The boy just walks right through them. Fenrir had the gall to show up at my door a few nights ago and pass the boy to me before leaving with only having said that it was 'my turn'." Tom ignored the amusement that he saw on his friends face. "I actually had to sleep while holding onto the boy to keep him in one place."

"Young Corvus is definitely something else. Have you seen him do anything else?" Lucius thought that it was both amazing and horrifying that Corvus could bypass wards. He was thankful that Draco had shown no such ability. "Draco has managed to summon a toy, but that is all."

"Hn. I think he has summoned things, but I am not sure. I have not seen it actually happen. The only thing we are sure of is the thing with the wards and the fact that it starts to rain if he is upset, which does not happen often. I am not worried though, his being able to bypass the wards…" Tom stopped talking when he saw an incredulous look spread across Lucius's face. Tom stood and looked towards the boys, thinking that they had managed to hurt themselves.

He was surprised to see small colored bubbles floating around the boys, who were giggling and popping the bubbles as they came close. As soon as the bubbles were gone, Corvus scrunched up his little face in concentration, and more bubbles appeared, much to the delight of Draco who was clapping happily.

"Well. Apparently he can make bubbles." Tom said dryly.

"Apparently." Lucius replied

The members of the Black household celebrated Yule privately on the 21st of December. Corvus watched as Tom lit the Yule log and as Fenrir asked a blessing on the House of Black. The two men had decided that they would try to make the holiday as wonderful as they could for the young heir, so they decided that they would decorate the tree while Corvus could watch.

Corvus was thrilled when they allowed him to place some ornaments on the lower branches of the tree that they had placed in the Portrait Hall. They had decided that they would decorate there as that was the room that they spent the most time in.

Once the decorations were finished and the traditions upheld, Corvus was allowed to open presents. He received books, toy and clothes from his guardians, the Malfoys, and a small toddler Potions kit from Severus.

Corvus spent most of his morning looking at books and playing with the Potions kit. The little cauldron was set up so that Corvus could add any of the ingredients that came with the kit, and the cauldron would produce music, colored lights, bubbles, or sweet smells. The cauldron would also speak and tell him that he needed to be safe while brewing, what the difference was between clockwise and anti-clockwise, and various other small phrases that were common for brewing.

Severus was pleased when he flooed over so that he could go with Tom and Fenrir to the Malfoy Yule Ball. Severus sat with the young heir as the others were getting dressed and watched as the boy played with his gift. He was a bit startled when the boy brought his little cauldron over to Severus so that he could play with him.

When Fenrir and Tom walked in to let Severus know that they were ready, they found both of them sitting on the floor while producing various effects from Corvus's new favorite toy.

"Are you ready Severus?" Tom asked with a smirk. The Potions Master flushed as he stood and brushed off his cloak. Leaning over he picked up Corvus and sat him on his hip expertly.

"I am. Shall we?" Severus raised one brow and pretended that the others had not caught him sitting on the floor playing with a toddler Potions kit.

Fenrir smirked and led the way down to the study, where they each flooed over to Malfoy Manor. Corvus hid his face in the Potion Master's shoulder and giggled as they spun through the floo system, causing Fenrir to roll his eyes. He had never realized that children thought magical travel was fun.

They were greeted in the receiving room by Lucius and Narcissa who was holding Draco in her arms.

" Day'co" Corvus squealed while trying to get out of Severus's arms so that he could go play with his friend.

Tom reached over and plucked the squirming boy out of the Potion Master arms and held him up so that Corvus could see Tom's face. "Corvus, be still. You can play with Draco later." He spoke firmly and waited until Corvus pulled his pouting lip back in before he settled the boy on his hip. "Thank you for having us."

The Malfoy's smiled at the interaction between Corvus and their Lord. Narcissa had also had to take a moment to calm her son when he recognized his friend.

"It is a pleasure to have you my Lord. There are a great many here who will be delighted and relieved to see you again, and of course to meet young Corvus. If you would like, Narcissa can walk with you so that Corvus and Draco can distract each other?" Lucius was pleased when Tom said that would be fine and left to mingle with the other Dark families. He was sure that some of them would be shocked to see their Lord with a toddler on his hip. Smirking, Lucius turned to greet the next arrival.

The night passed swiftly after the children were all placed in Draco's nursery with no less than five elves to keep watch of the young heirs. The Malfoy's and the guardians of Corvus were amused when they found out that Draco had spent most of the night making sure that none of the older or bigger children messed with his friend. The elves told the adults that he would glare at the other children and tell them that the Dark Lord would get them if they messed with Corvus.

Lucius was both appalled at the treat and pleased that his son was so protective of the other boy. He relaxed when he saw that Tom was more amused than anything over what the boy had said.

When Tom and Fenrir had made their way upstairs to collect Corvus before going home, they found the two boys curled up around a stuffed dragon in Draco's cot. Corvus never even stirred as he was scooped up into Fenrir's arms and taken home, where he stayed in his own room for once.

The fifth day of January was bitterly cold and it was no surprise that there was fresh snow on the ground. Fenrir and Tom both were up with the sun and getting ready for their first Wizengamot session. Lucius arrived at the Black Manor with Narcissa and Draco, so that he could arrive at the Ministry with the other two men. Narcissa would be watching both boys along with Severus, who was bringing both boys refills for their toy Potions sets.

Dressed in fine robes with their House Crests displayed on the plackets, the three men set off into the cold. Once they arrived at the Ministry and registered their wands, the three men set off to the Wizengamot chamber nine floors below. Lucius separated from the others as he made his way to the seat reserved for the Head of the House of Malfoy. Tom and Fenrir took seats in the gallery to await the bringing of the meeting when all new seat appointments were made for the year.

The best thing about them taking their respective seats today instead of later was that Dumbledore was also taking a new seat, and therefore could not preside over the meeting. This ensured that Fenrir's proposal for the Lestrange family would be heard without interference from the old man.

Dumbledore did not even notice the two men sitting at the back of the gallery as he swept in with bright robes. Tom and Fenrir listened in as Dumbledore told reporters that were seated in the gallery that Harry Potter was doing wonderfully and that he was safe, protected and loved. Dumbledore took special care to tell them that the boy looked exactly like his father, but with his mother's green eyes. Of course, he sounded despondent when he told the reporters that the boy still had the scar that was shaped like lightning from the confrontation with the Dark Lord. The reporters were eating it up.

Both Fenrir and Tom smirked as the old man dug himself deeper into a hole that he had no idea he had created.

When the meeting was called to order, Amelia Bones was quickly decided by the members to preside over the meeting as Acting Chief Warlock.

"It is the fifth of January; the first meeting of the Wizengamot is now called to order. First order of business is to swear in all new seat appointments. Today we have four appointments for House seats. Let us start with the Noble House of Potter." Dumbledore made his way to the center of the room to stand before Amelia. "Albus, as Magical Guardian of Harry Potter, heir to the Noble House of Potter, you have been approved by this body to sit in proxy for that House. Do you swear that you will vote your conscious as you feel will be best for the Noble House of Potter?"

Albus looked around the room with a grandfatherly smile. "I do, my dear."

"You are granted the one vote allocated to a Noble House. Please take your seat for the House of Potter for the remainder of this session." Albus nodded to a few of the men that were sitting near the Potter seat. "Scribe, please notate that Mr. Dumbledore has a one vote for the House of Potter and will have a total of three when he is sitting as Acting Chief Warlock."

Tom smirked in his seat within the Gallery. He had not realized that Dumbledore could only use the two votes granted to the Chief Warlock if he was sitting in that position for the session. This meant that he would have two less votes while they tried to help his other followers get out of Azkaban.

Our second seat to appoint is for the Noble House of Grey." Fenrir stood and made his way to the middle of the room and stood with an air of dignity that Dumbledore had not managed with his wild robes.

"Lord Fenton Grey, as Head of your house, you have been approved by this body to join your peers. Do you swear that you will vote your conscious as you feel will be best for the Noble House of Grey?"

"I do." Fenrir said with a nod.

"You are granted the one vote allocated to a Noble House. Please remain where you are." With this instruction, a few members of the Wizengamot leaned forward, including Dumbledore. "Lord Fenton Grey, as Magical Guardian of Corvus Hyperion Black, heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, you have been approved by this body to sit in proxy for that House."

Dumbledore stuttered and stood. "I must protest; the House of Black has no heir other than Sirius Black as he is the last male from that line alive."

Mr. Dumbledore," Amelia was looking at the old man with a glare, "It is not your place to protest these proceedings. However, let me assure you that the information provided in this session has been matched to that of the records in Gringotts. Sit down."

Dumbledore blinked for a moment before slowly taking his seat.

Amelia turned her attention to the stoic young Lord before her. "Where was I? Oh yes, Lord Fenton Grey, do you swear that you will vote your conscious as you feel will be best for the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black?"

"I do." He gave another small nod as spoke.

"You are granted the three votes allocated to a Most Ancient and Noble House. Please remain where you are." Amelia could not help but smirk in Dumbledore's direction as she directed the young Lord to remain standing. It looked as though he was going to jump out of his seat again. "Lord Fenton Grey, as Magical Guardian of Corvus Hyperion Black, heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Loxias, you have been approved by this body to sit in proxy for that House. Do you swear that you will vote your conscious as you feel will be best for the Most Ancient and Noble House of Loxias?"

"I do."

"You are granted the three votes allocated to a Most Ancient and Noble House. Please take your seat for the remainder of the session. You may either sit in the seat reserved for Loxias or Black as they are the same rank. Scribe, please notate that Lord Fenton Grey controls seven votes between the Houses he represents." Fenrir made his way over to the Black seat, which was near Lucius Malfoy's. The two men nodded at each other as Fenrir took his seat.

Our Last seat to appoint is for the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Slytherin."

Tom made his way to stand in the middle of the room. Tom hid his smirk as he glanced at Dumbledore and saw his wide eyed and shocked expression.

"Tom Riddle, Lord Slytherin, as Head of your houses, you have been approved by this body to join your peers. Do you swear that you will vote your conscious as you feel will be best for the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Slytherin?"

"I do." Tom spoke clearly.

"You are granted the four votes allocated to a Most Ancient and Most Noble House. Please remain where you are."

Tom had been about to move to take his seat when he was instructed to remain where he was. He raised one brow as he looked at Amelia Bones.

"Tom Riddle, Lord Slytherin, it does not happen often, but you are not only Lord of a Most Ancient and Most Noble House, but are also the Head of the Magical House of Riddle. As you hold the title of Head and Lord of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Slytherin, so is your secondary house of Riddle raised to the status of a Most Noble House." Tom blinked once and made sure that he was not showing any of the shock he felt. "Therefore, Lord Tom Riddle-Slytherin, as Head of your houses, you have been approved by this body to join your peers. Do you swear that you will vote your conscious as you feel will be best for the Most Noble House of Riddle?"

"I do."

"You are granted the two votes allocated to a Most Noble House. Please take your seat for the remainder of the session in the Seat reserved for Slytherin, as it is the highest ranking of your seats. Scribe, please notate that Lord Tom Riddle-Slytherin controls six votes between the Houses he represents."

Tom made his way to his seat at the top tier of the seats within the Wizengamot chamber. His seat was directly behind Lucius and Fenrir. Both men nodded to their Lord as he took his seat. All three of them looked across the room discreetly and saw that Dumbledore looked like he was going to have an aneurysm at any moment.

"Next order of business for this first meeting of the Wizengamot for the year; new business presented by the Houses. Mr. Dumbledore has asked to bring an issue before this body as proxy for the Noble House of Potter. Mr. Dumbledore, you have the floor."

"Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones." Dumbledore stood and smiled while looking around the room. His smile dimmed as he met the icy blue eyes of Tom Riddle across the room. "As Proxy for the Noble House of Potter, I request that this body allow me access to the Potter Vaults as Harry Potter's Magical Guardian. I feel it is in the boy's best interest, that he be surrounded by thing that will connect him to his dearly departed family. With this body's permission, I am sure that the Goblins will allow me to access the things that the boy needs to ensure that he grows up happy and healthy." Dumbledore retook his seat as the room sat in silence.

Amelia just blinked at the old man for a moment before turning back to the room. "Would anyone like to put forth a counter to Mr. Dumbledore's…request?"

Lucius stood from his seat and waited to be recognized.

"Lord Malfoy, you have the floor."

"Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones." Lucius seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment before he continued speaking. "I would ask that this request be denied as there is a very valid reason for the Goblins to have put these types of safeguards on vaults of orphans. It is at the request of the Heads of those houses, that extra security measures are enacted. If the parents of the child and the Head of his family made this decision, it is not for us to overrule that decision. As a governing body, we must respect the wishes of the Potters, who made the restrictions of their vaults that way for a reason. Furthermore, this body should be wary of interfering in Gringotts matters; this is a very delicate issue that could very well cause offence from the Goblin Nation."

After Lucius retook his seat, Dumbledore looked around to see if anyone would stand to speak for him before they begin the vote. The room sat in silence for the three required minuets with no one standing. A few of the members of the Wizengamot would not meet the eyes of Dumbledore, knowing that they would see disappointment in his eyes that they had not stood for the issue he put forth.

"We will vote on the issue now. Those in favor of Mr. Dumbledore being granted access to the Potter Vaults by this body raise your wand and be counted." Only a few wands were raised, much to Dumbledore's consternation. "Those opposed to Mr. Dumbledore being granted access to the Potter Vaults by this body, raise your wand and be counted." The room lit up as every other wand was raised. "Scribe, please notate that Mr. Dumbledore's request to be granted access to the Potter Vaults by this body was denied by a vote of 237 to 13."

"We have one last request to be presented on behalf of a House today. Lord Grey has asked to bring an issue before this body as proxy for the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. Lord Grey, you have the floor."

"Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones. In the past few weeks, an issue regarding a member of the House of Black came to my attention. Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black was brought before this body and was not given a full hearing or trial. If fact, I was surprised to see the charges that were placed against a member of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. The law states that a member of any Magical House may seek retribution, up to and including the end of the line of the offending party, if the offence has affected the Houses in question; in this case, that would be the Most Ancient and Most Noble house of Lestrange and the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black as her Maiden House. Bellatrix Lestrange was allowed, even encouraged, by our laws, to seek retribution against the Ancient and Noble house of Longbottom for their actions against her and her Houses."

Fenrir stopped for a moment and looked around the room. He was gratified to see many pale faces in the crowd as well as the hopeful face of Barty Crouch Sr. Dumbledore looked like he was choking on a lemon drop while Augusta Longbottom looked furious.

"I was actually in the alley when I witnessed-I would be able to provide Pensieve memories if needed-Frank Longbottom end the pregnancy of Bellatrix Lestrange with and abortion spell. I then witnessed Alice Longbottom curse her while stating that she would never be able to produce another Dark Wizard. For those actions alone, Bellatrix was well within her rights to end their line."

Fenrir could now see that there were other faces that were showing fury. They had clearly not known this information before.

"In looking at the records of the joint trial of Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black, her husband Rodolphus Lestrange, her brother-in-law Rabastan Lestrange, and friend Bartemius Crouch Jr. I noticed something…unnerving. All four were sent to Azkaban without being questioned under Veritaserum for casting unforgivables. As the proxy for the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, I request that the required questioning under Veritaserum be done immediately to see if unforgivables were cast, or if a member of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black and her family of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange and her friend of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Crouch are imprisoned for taking lawful retribution that has yet to be completely taken by the offended Houses. The Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black is not satisfied."

Fenrir stepped back and took his seat, leaving stunned silence in the wake of his speech.

Dumbledore stood up almost immediately. He was shifting his weight from side to side as he waited to be recognized.

Amelia looked towards the old man. "Mr. Dumbledore, you have the floor."

"Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones. I would ask this body to deny the request of Lord Grey. As the presiding Acting Chief Warlock of the trial in question, which I may add many of you attended, was conducted with the law being upheld to the highest measure possible. The accused were tried and found to be guilty of casting unforgivables in the attempt to get to the heir of the Ancient and Noble house of Longbottom, as he was thought to be a threat against Lord Voldemort. It is a well-known fact that those in question were marked followers and thus, there is no need to revisit this issue. It is highly doubtful that Bellatrix was seeking retribution for a pregnancy that she was simply unable to carry to term. Let us not open old wounds for the Ancient and Noble house of Longbottom by having their members that were cursed…so cruelly…be able to spread vicious lies."

As Dumbledore again sat back in his seat, the room stilled and became silent to see if anyone would speak again in favor of the Lestrange trial being reopened. Lord Malfoy again stood and waited to be recognized.

"Lord Malfoy, you have the floor."

"Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones. As a member of this body that was present at the trial in question, I would like to request that this body give serious thought to revisiting this issue. While sitting here and going through memories that I have of that trial, I find that I have no memory of proof being offered that any of the four cast an unforgivable. Nor do I remember there being any proof offered to show that any of the four were marked followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It is our duty to uphold our laws to the highest standard and we would be remiss if we had condemned members of our community unjustly."

Lucius retook his seat and waited. They were only allowed to have two arguments for and against a request or petition before the matter was brought to a vote. He was expecting someone to argue against them having the Lestrange questioned under Veritaserum. He was not disappointed when Augusta Longbottom stood and waited to be recognized.

Madam Longbottom, you have the floor Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones as the proxy for the Ancient and Noble house of Longbottom, I ask that this body refuse this disgusting request." Eyes widened as Augusta Longbottom spat out her argument. "That filth is right where they belong and they deserve to rot in Azkaban for what they did to my son. There was no reason for them to hurt my son other than they were filthy Dark Wizards that hatted everything that was of the Light. This body should not have to cater to the whims of the Dark filth that stains our world." Augusta sat back in her chair as she tried to regain her breath. She was clutching her chest as she huffed out deep breaths.

We will vote on the issue now. In the matter of Lord Grey's request to have the Lestrange trial revisited on the behalf of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, Those in favor of granting the request, raise your wand and be counted." She waited a moment to allow the count to be calculated. "Those in favor of denying the request raise your wand and be counted."

Fenrir watched with Lucius and Tom as Amelia looked over the final count of the vote and tap some papers on her desk with her wand. Finally she looked up to address the room.

Scribe, please notate that Lord Grey's request on behalf of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black to have this body revisit the matter of the Lestrange trial was granted by a vote of 155 to 95"

The members that had obviously voted for the request to be denied immediately started to protest the decision, led by Dumbledore."

"Silence, If you continue to disturb this body as it makes just decisions, you will be removed from this session." Amelia raised her voice as she addressed the angry Wizards that followed Dumbledore. "The four individuals in question are being retrieved from Azkaban as we speak. They will be given Veritaserum and questioned by me. Any disruptions to this trial will result in immediate dismissal from this session and disciplinary actions by this body. Is this understood?" Amelia looked right at Dumbledore as she asked this question. "Good. This session will resume in half an hour. If you are not in this chamber when the doors are sealed, you will not have a vote. I suggest that you take a break if you need to. This will be an open trial, reporters will be allowed in the gallery."

Dumbledore again tried to protest when he was glared into silence by Amelia.

Looking out over the room she again addressed the Wizards and Witches inside. "This is a last reminder. The doors will seal in half an hour. We will then be questioning the accused as they should have been at their trial. This body is in recess."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thank you very much for all the reviews. I enjoy seeing what you guys think and love it when you guys tell me that you cant wait for more. If you have any questions, please let me know and I will continue to reply through PM.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

{Parseltongue}

During the short break, Tom watched, along with Lucius and Fenrir, as Dumbledore tried to convince Amelia that he should be back in his position as Chief Warlock for the duration of the trial. Dumbledore kept looking over at the three Slytherins and then lowering his voice to a whisper as though he were making sure that they could not over hear the conversation. He continued to become frustrated with Amelia and raising his voice so that everyone still in the room could hear his complaints about Dark Wizards controlling the session and his belief that it would be for 'the greater good' if he was in charge of the trial.

"Amelia, you know that it would be for the best if I were in charge of this…trial. I have much more experience in dealing with these types of Dark Wizards. This Lord Grey is obviously a follower of Lord Voldemort and is trying to get his comrades out of their imprisonment so that they can still carry out his orders." Dumbledore was smiling as gently as he could while his eyes twinkled kindly at Amelia Bones, who just continued to read a file on the table in front of her while she answered him in a cool tone.

"Mr. Dumbledore, as you a very well aware, you are not eligible to take any active rolls in this trial as you have claimed the Potter seat today by Proxy. It is a law that you instated yourself, that no man may claim a House seat while still holding an official title, one not pertaining to a House, during the same session. I do not appreciate you trying to subvert your own laws here. Furthermore, I would not step down in this instance as you seem to be oddly predetermined in your opinions about how this trial should go. I would also be concerned about your opinion that everyone is following He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. In reading the transcripts to the first trial, which you presided over, I see no mention of that even being asked. This concerns me as they were imprisoned under the charge of 'War Crimes under orders of a Dark Lord.' Tell me, Mr. Dumbledore, why should I ignore law and allow you to take the seat of Chief Warlock when it seems as though you did not follow you duties of that position, primarily making sure that proof was given and properly documented, during the last trial?"

Dumbledore gave sigh and gave a disappointed look at the younger woman. "My dear, I am sure that the files are just incomplete for some reason. I assure you that we had plenty of proof before these four dangerous followers of Lord Voldemort were taken to Azkaban, were they deserved to be."

"Hm. I am sure." Amelia just raised one brow. "I will keep that in mind when this trial is over. I do hope that this trial does not cause concern for other trials to be checked for erroneous handling. It would not do for there to be…incomplete files…when someone has been condemned to Azkaban." Tom, Fenrir and Lucius watched with interest as Amelia just stared at Dumbledore without expression. "But I am sure that you are correct, this trial will just ensure that the paperwork is complete and we shall be on our way soon. Now, it is almost time for us to begin, I suggest that you make your way back to your seat."

Dumbledore just walked back to his seat and sat quietly, his eyes no longer twinkling after his conversation with Amelia Bones. Tom smirked as he watched the old man from his position across the room. Having Amelia Bones preside as Chief Warlock for this session had turned into a huge boon for the Dark Lord's agenda. Almost anyone else would have been bending over backwards to please the Leader of the Light, but it seemed that Amelia Bones was only interested in fulfilling her duties as best as she could.

Fenrir and Lucius had been quietly speaking for a moment before they turned to Tom. Fenrir spoke quietly only after Lucius placed a privacy charm around them.

"It is possible that Amelia will begin to look at other trials once this is finished. Sirius Black may actually get his trial and he will probably start to look for his godson if he gets free."

Tom thought for a moment before replying. "If it happens and Sirius Black leaves Azkaban, he will be looking for Harry Potter. There is no way for them to connect Corvus to the boy that Dumbledore tried to create. If anything, it would only cause more problems for the old fool when he cannot produce the Potter boy, especially with the request that he put forth today." Tom looked at the two men before him and smirked. "With the changes that I made to the mark, Dumbledore may possibly be drowning in troubles before the day is out."

Fenrir nodded and turned back so that he was facing the courtroom again as Lucius quietly removed the silencing charm. All three men sat silently as they waited for the doors to close and the trial to begin, secure in the knowledge that they had nothing to worry about. Tom had made sure to test both Lucius and Fenrir under the Veritaserum that Severus had provided and found that nothing that would be asked today would cause them any concern. They spoke quietly with the few members of the Wizengamot that approached them, but otherwise sat calmly as they waited.

Dumbledore watched Tom from across the room and was surprised that neither he, nor Lucius, seemed to be upset that four of Tom's followers were going too questioned under Veritaserum. _Perhaps I can ask a question while they are under the influence of the potion that will ensure that they return to prison quickly. Amelia is simply not suited for such a position and will probably be unable to ask any helpful questions. How dare she speak to me like that? I will see that she is never in a position within this body again for her words._

 _Lord Fenton Grey. I have never heard of him and I was sure that they Grey family died out some years ago. I wonder who this Black Heir is that he has custody of. I was sure that I would be able to use Sirius to get gain access to the Black votes and Vaults at some point._

A few members of the Wizengamot scurried back to their seats just as the doors closed. No one had been locked out as everyone wanted to make sure that they were present for the Lestrange re-trial. Reporters sat in the gallery with parchment and quills at the ready and the four prisoners from Azkaban were standing on one side of the courtroom with Auror guards holding their arms.

With a glance around the room to ensure that everyone was paying attention, Amelia called the session back to order. "It is the fifth of January; the first meeting of the Wizengamot is now called back to order to revisit the matter of the Lestrange trial. The matter was requested by Lord Grey on behalf of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black as the proxy for that House and was granted his request by a vote of 155 to 95." Amelia summoned the four chairs that the Wizengamot used for trials and motioned for the Aurors to make sure that the prisoners were properly restrained.

"For the duration of this trial, I have enabled the shields that will block any spells from reaching the prisoners. I will also be erecting a silencing shield while questioning the accused to prevent anyone else from questioning the accused." Protests again rose around the room as the occupants realized that they would not be able to interact with the prisoners during the questioning. Tom noticed that only Dumbledore and Augusta Longbottom looked angry while everyone else looked mildly perturbed. "As the only person that should be asking any questions during _any_ trial is the Chief Warlock, this measure will ensure that this requirement is met and not called into question at a later date."

"As a reminder, if you disturb this body as it conducts this trail, you will be removed from this session. The four accused will be given Veritaserum and questioned by me on matters pertaining to the matter of the Longbottoms, the Dark Mark, and the accusation that they are followers of...Lord Voldemort. The last two matters will be questioned because of the original charge they were convicted of: 'War Crimes under orders of a Dark Lord.' As there seems to be no indication that this matter was even questioned before, it will be determined today if they committed any crimes while following or being a marked follower of…Lord Voldemort. Any disruptions to this trial will result in immediate dismissal from this session and disciplinary actions by this body. Is this understood?" Amelia looked around the room at the silent observers. She had noticed how most of them had flinched as she had said the name of the Dark Lord that had caused so much trouble for the Wizarding world. With a nod, she raised the silencing charms. "Auror, administer the Veritaserum to Bellatrix Lestrange."

A tall black man with a bald head stepped forward and place three drops on the tongues of the woman that was chained to her chair. She, along with the other prisoners, was dirty and looked as though she had not eaten anything substantial for a while. After administering the Veritaserum, the Auror stepped to the side to await his next order and guard the prisoners.

"What is your full name?" Amelia began with the standard questions that were supposed to be asked of everyone that had been accused of a crime that merited a full trial.

"Bellatrix Elara Lestrange née Black" Bellatrix's expression and tone was flat and her gaze was completely vacant as she answered under the influence of the potion. This reaction was involuntary and was used to verify that the potion was working correctly.

"Scribe, please notate that the Veritaserum is working properly. Bellatrix Lestrange, when were you born?" Amelia continued with the standard questions, making sure that they had all been asked. Once all of the personal information had been asked and notated properly, Amelia asked about the incident that had been brought before Wizengamot by Lord Grey.

"Bellatrix Lestrange, please explain to this body why you and the three others sitting with you, attacked the Longbottom family on the night of October 31, 1981."

"My husband, his brother, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. went with me as witnesses as I sought retribution for my House from the House of Longbottom."

Amelia could see Augusta yelling behind the silencing wards and looked down at the scroll that automatically updated with any outbursts that occurred behind the silencing shield. "Why were you seeking retribution from the Ancient and Noble house of Longbottom?"

"I was shopping for baby furniture when Frank Longbottom ended my pregnancy. His wife then cursed me so that I would no longer be able to carry a child."

Amelia looked down at her paperwork and frowned. Even with just those two questions, she could see that the previous trial was a farce. "Did you at any time attack, or plan to attack, the Heir to the Longbottom House?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I was going to take the Longbottom Heir as my own son through blood adoption."

A few brows rose around the room at this comment, including Tom and his two followers.

"Why were you going to blood adopt the Longbottom Heir?"

"I studied the laws pertaining to retribution between Houses. The blood adoption of an Heir is permissible if the offence of one House killed or destroyed the line of succession. The Longbottom family made sure that I would not be able to give my husband an heir; retribution demands that the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom pay for that offence in full."

"I see. Did you use an unforgivable while seeking retribution from the House of Longbottom?"

"No."

"What spell did you use on Frank and Alice Longbottom?"

"It is a spell I created that locks them in their own minds to relive their worst memories until they feel true remorse for their actions."

"So they will be able come out of their comas if they feel remorse?"

"Yes."

"Hn." Amelia looked around at the members of the Wizengamot and saw that most of them were blinking in shock. Albus and his most devout followers were the only ones, other than Augusta Longbottom, that looked displeased with the information that was coming to light. She made a few notes on the parchment before her before she addressed him Auror. "Auror Shacklebolt, Please roll up the left sleeves of all four…accused. As the charge against these four was that they committed 'War Crimes under orders of a Dark Lord' while marked followers, we will see to that now.

Once the sleeves were all rolled up, Amelia looked down onto four clear forearms with one brow raised before turning her glare towards Dumbledore. Dumbledore was looking at the four chained to their chairs in alarm.

"Scribe, please notate that all four of the accused are free of the Dark Mark. We will begin questioning the accused about their supposed dealings with Lord Voldemort now. As Bellatrix is still under the influence of Veritaserum, we will begin with her. Bellatrix's Lestrange, do you serve Lord Voldemort?"

"No." Gasps were heard on one side of the silencing shield that Amelia had erected. Tom just smirked.

"I see. Have you committed any crimes while under orders from or as a favor to Lord Voldemort?"

"No."

"Oh, for the love of Merlin." Amelia was now glaring out right at a pale Dumbledore. "Auror Shacklebolt, administer the antidote to Bellatrix Lestrange and administer the Veritaserum to Rodolphus Lestrange." Once the Auror had administered the potions, Amelia began the control questions again. "Scribe, please notate that the Veritaserum is working properly. Rodolphus Lestrange, what was the reason that you followed Bellatrix Lestrange to Longbottom Hall on October 31,1981?"

"I was acting as witness to retribution as the Head of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange."

"Did you at any time, attack or plan to attack the heir to the Ancient and Noble house of Longbottom, and why?

"No, my wife wished to blood adopt the Longbottom Heir as our own son."

"Did you agree to this choice?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"We both wanted a child. Retribution laws ensured that the Longbottom House would have to provide an Heir to us due to their actions against our House."

"Are you a follower of Lord Voldemort?"

"No"

"Have you ever committed any crimes while under the orders of or as a favor to Lord Voldemort?"

"No."

"Auror Shacklebolt, administer the antidote to Rodolphus Lestrange and administer the Veritaserum to Rabastan Lestrange." Once the Auror had administered the potions, Amelia began the control questions again. "Scribe, please notate that the Veritaserum is working properly. Rabastan Lestrange, what was the reason that you followed Bellatrix Lestrange to Longbottom Hall on October 31,1981?"

"I was asked to stand as witness to retribution as a member of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange."

"Did you at any time, attack or plan to attack the heir to the Ancient and Noble house of Longbottom?

"No"

"Are you a follower of Lord Voldemort?"

"No"

"Have you ever committed any crimes while under the orders of Lord Voldemort?"

"No."

Amelia sighed and handed a note to another Auror who quickly left the room. "Auror Shacklebolt, administer the antidote to Rabastan Lestrange and administer the Veritaserum to Bartemius Crouch Jr." Once the Auror had administered the potions, Amelia began the control questions again. "Scribe, please notate that the Veritaserum is working properly. Bartemius Crouch Jr., what was the reason that you followed Bellatrix Lestrange to Longbottom Hall on October 31,1981?"

"I was a witness to retribution as a non-relation to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange."

"Did you at any time, attack or plan to attack the heir to the Ancient and Noble house of Longbottom?

"No"

"Are you a follower of Lord Voldemort?"

"No"

"Have you ever committed any crimes while under the orders of Lord Voldemort?"

"No."

"Auror Shacklebolt, administer the antidote to Bartemius Crouch Jr." Amelia looked down with a sigh before she removed the silencing shields around the room. She glared at Dumbledore as she asked for the vote. "We will be voting on all four accused. If you feel that they are guilty of 'War Crimes under orders of a Dark Lord,' raise your wand and be counted." Amelia waited until the count had finished before continuing. "If you feel that the four accused are not guilty of 'War Crimes under orders of a Dark Lord,' raise your wand and be counted."

"Scribe, please notate that Lord Grey's request on behalf of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, resulted in a re-trial with questioning under the use of Veritaserum. The four accused were found not-guilty by a vote of 210 to 40"

There was no doubt as to the outcome of the trial after everything that had been said under Veritaserum, but Tom, Fenrir, and Lucius could not help but sigh in relief when the results were documented properly. Tom made sure to remember the faces of those that had voted with Dumbledore in an attempt to send the Lestranges and the Crouch Heir back to Azkaban.

Bellatrix looked confused when she heard the verdict of not-guilty; her confusion deepened when she heard that Lord Grey had requested the re-trial on behalf of her Maternal House. She looked around with a small frown on her face until she saw Tom sitting behind Lucius and Fenrir. Once she made eye contact with the three men, she had to look at her lap to hide the relief that she felt. She did not want those that had put her in prison to see her expression.

"In the mater of retribution the against the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom for their actions against the Most Ancient and Most Noble house of Lestrange and the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black as Bellatrix Lestrange's Maiden House..."

Bellatrix snapped her head up so that she could see Amelia clearly as she spoke.

"It is clear from the testimony that we heard today, under Veritaserum, that retribution has not been completely paid by the Ancient and Noble house of Longbottom, therefore…"

Augusta Longbottom stood and began to scream. "The Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom owe nothing to that filth. She should be rotting in Azkaban for what she did to my son. He did nothing wrong to cause her to attack him like an animal. Her houses should be ash for what she did!"

"Auror, silence and detain Madam Longbottom." Kingsley made his way from the center of the court and restrained Augusta Longbottom in her seat under a Silencing Charm. "Madam Longbottom, you will be facing disciplinary action from this body for your actions and words that you have spoken during session today…yes, I can see every threat you made while the Silencing Shields were up since everything is recorded for documentation on either side of the Shield. I suggest that you hold your tongue before this body before it is decided that the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom needs to stand before this body to defend its Noble status. As it stands, your House status is in dire jeopardy thanks to the actions of your son and daughter-in-law."

Augusta Longbottom paled as she sat back in her seat. Dumbledore leaned over his chair so that he could whisper in her ear, only to be pushed back by Auror Shacklebolt without a word.

"As I was saying, it is clear from the testimony that we heard today, under Veritaserum, that retribution has not been completely paid by the Ancient and Noble house of Longbottom, therefore this body will stand witness as retribution is completed. I have requested that the Longbottom Heir be brought before this body as well as any records that we have on file…I am just waiting, and here we are." Amelia took a file from an Auror that had rushed into the room.

As Amelia looked over the file, another Auror walked into the gallery with a small child in her arms. Augusta tried to speak but was still silenced by the Auror that was standing beside her.

"Madam Longbottom, would you care to tell me why the Heir to your House has sustained injuries during the two months that you have had him in your custody?"

Once the silencing charm had been removed, Augusta raised her chin and spoke angrily. "The boy is clumsy."

"Clumsy or not, I see no reason for the boy to have this many bruises and a broken arm when he had not had such injuries before he was in your custody."

"He is a squib!" Augusta spat.

"Hn. I see. I think it is probably for the best that the Most Ancient and Most Noble house of Lestrange wanted to blood adopt the boy as their own. Silence her again Auror Shacklebolt." Most of the occupants in the room sighed in relief when the shrieking that had begun was silenced. "Normally this body does not vote on such matters, but as retribution was left unpaid and the Most Ancient and Most Noble house of Lestrange was imprisoned due to false information provided by the offending House, I would suggest that we take a vote so that the records are complete and so that nothing can be said about retribution having been unfair." Amelia Looked around.

"Now Amelia, this is not something that this body should bother with, I am sure that the boy is fine with his grandmother."

"Mr. Dumbledore, you will be silent or have a Silencing charm placed on you. If you speak again without having the floor, you will be removed from this session. You are not Chief Warlock today." Under Amelia's glare, Dumbledore sat back in his seat and tried to look disappointed in her actions as he looked around the room.

"All in favor of voting on the final price of retribution to be paid to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange please raise your wand and be counted…All opposed raise your wand and be counted."

"Scribe, please notate that this body will vote on the matter of final retribution to be paid to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange as determined by a vote of 235 to 15. The retribution that the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange had planned on taking was the blood adoption of the Heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Longbottom. Would anyone like the floor?"

Dumbledore was quickly on his feet, as were a few other members of the Wizengamot, including Bartemius Crouch Sr. "Mr. Crouch, you have the floor."

Bartemius Crouch Sr. stood as the rest of the members that had wanted to speak retook their seats. Dumbledore looked slightly put out as he frowned over at the Head of the Noble House of Crouch. "Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones. I think that the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange should be granted their desire to adopt the boy as their own son and heir; it is clear that it would be in the best interest for the boy as well as go a long way towards retribution. I do think, however, that the Ancient and Most Noble House of Longbottom should have more of a punishment for their actions of trying to hide the dishonor of their House. Going so far as to provide false information to see an entire House imprisoned, after ensuring that they could not provide their own Heir, is something that is incomprehensible. These are not the actions of a _Most_ Noble House. I suggest that the Ancient and Most Noble House of Longbottom stand before this body and defend the current station of their House, and if their actions are found to be wanting, that their House be reduced in rank."

The room was silent after Bartemius Crouch Sr. took his seat. It was rare that a House was faced with the possibility of having their rank lowered and was an issue that the members of the Wizengamot took seriously.

Clearing her throat, Amelia looked around the room. "Would someone like to speak against the suggestion put forth by Bartemius Crouch Sr.?" Dumbledore was the first person on his feet. Amelia sighed softly as she recognized Dumbledore. "Mr. Dumbledore, you have the floor."

Dumbledore looked towards Amelia patronizingly as he spoke. "Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones. I think we are all well aware of where our duties lay in this matter. The boy should be raised by his grandmother and should not be placed into the hands of dangerous Dark Wizards. It is obvious that they have found a way to lie under the influence of Veritaserum and have deceived this body in regards to their supposed innocence. It would be the height of irresponsibility to ensure that the boy grows up outside of the light and around such people. He will be perfectly fine with the mother of his father and he will learn his duty to his family and community. This body should not allow the boy to be raised in a manner that will ensure that we have more Dark Wizards to deal with a later time. Furthermore, to demote a House is a serious thing and there is no reason to do such a thing now. There is simply no need for further retribution to be paid to the people that have tried their hardest to destroy the Ancient and Most Noble house of Longbottom, one of the leading families of the Light." Dumbledore did not seem to notice the looks that he was receiving as he retook his seat. He simply smiled benignly at the others in the room.

"Lovely, would anyone else like to speak on this matter, or are we ready to vote?" Amelia looked around tiredly. "Perfect. All those in favor of granting final retribution to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange as per the suggestion put forth by the Head of the Noble House of Crouch, raise your wand and be counted…All those opposed to granting final retribution to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange as per the suggestion put forth by the Head of the Noble House of Crouch, raise your wand and be counted."

"Scribe, please notate that, on the matter of final retribution to be paid to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange, this body has voted in favor of the suggestion put forth by the Head of the Noble House of Crouch by a vote of 237 to 13. The final retribution that will be carried out for offence against the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange by the Ancient and Most Noble House of Longbottom is this: The child known as Neville August Longbottom will be blood adopted by Rodolphus Lestrange and Bellatrix Lestrange and will be the Heir to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Lestrange. Furthermore, the Ancient and Most Noble House of Longbottom will stand before this body during the next session, and defend itself and its actions to this body. This body will then vote on the matter of the status of the House in question."

"Bellatrix Lestrange, I suggest that you head to Gringotts and complete the adoption and the naming ceremony as soon as possible. I then suggest that all of you head to St Mungo's Hospital to ensure that you are all healthy afterwards. I am sure that Lord Grey will provide you with any help that you may need as he is acting Proxy for the Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Black and Loxias."

Amelia watched as Bellatrix nodded that she understood her instructions as she accepted the child that the Auror had handed her. Bellatrix was smiling over at her husband while tears rolled down her cheeks as she held the toddler close to her body.

"The four of you may move to the gallery for the rest of the duration of this session." Once the floor was clear and the chairs had been banished, she began to speak again. "Before this session can be closed we have one more matter to take care of today. Due to the fact that this body has found four innocents within the walls of Azkaban, having been condemned without proper trial, all files will be pulled and investigated for _all_ current Azkaban inmates. Any prisoner that is found to have an incomplete file, or if there is anything found that is questionable about the trial or any legal actions that were taken, will receive a full re-trial that includes questioning under Veritaserum. Due to this investigation Mr. Dumbledore, you are hereby suspended from the position of Chief Warlock for the duration of the investigation. You will be allowed to sit your seat as Proxy for the Potter seat, but that is the only vote or seat that you may occupy." When Dumbledore made to protest, Amelia continued to speak over his sputtering. "I sincerely hope that nothing is found that would cause this body to need to investigate you and the actions that you have taken while under the banner of Chief Warlock." Dumbledore became very quiet as Amelia continued to speak. "A temporary representative will be chosen at the next session to represent this body as the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards as you will not be eligible to hold that position while the investigation is occurring."

"It is the fifth of January; the first meeting of the Wizengamot is now closed."

The first people out of the door were the reporters. There would be a special evening addition of the _Daily Prophet_ that would announce the innocence of the Lestranges and the Crouch Heir. Until the public was aware of the situation, Auror guards were assigned to a protection detail for the four freed prisoners.

As he walked out the door behind his freed followers, Tom shared a private smile with Lucius and Fenrir. It had gone better than he had expected.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. I am sorry that this chapter took so long, but I rewrote it a few times since I was unhappy with it the first few times I worked on it.

Happy Reading

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

{Parseltongue}

Tom, Fenrir and Lucius accompanied the Lestranges as they made their way to the bank with their new child carried safely in Bellatrix's arms. People that had been shopping in Diagon Alley that day, watched in shock as Aurors escorted the infamous family through the Alley. Everyone wanted to know what had happened for them to be seeing the Lestranges walking freely with a child.

Once they reached the bank and had been lead to the Lestrange Family Account Manager's office, the Lestranges were able complete the blood adoption with little fuss, causing the sandy blond hair on the baby's head to turn into silky black curls like his new mother's and his eyes to turn blue like his new father's. The little boy barely fussed and seemed content to look around him with wide eyes.

Once the blood adoption had been completed, they filled out the necessary paperwork for creating their Heir's new Trust Vault and for giving him his new name. They walked out the bank four hours later with Bellatrix proudly holding her new son, Rigel Xavier Lestrange, and quickly made their way over to St Mungo's. They spent a few hours being checked over by healers and taking potions to counteract the treatment the adults had received over the last two months at the prison and making sure that their new Heir was as healthy as he could be.

Once they had everything done at the bank and St Mungo's, the Lestranges followed the three men back to the Black Manor without even asking where they were going, still having trouble believing that they were free. Once they arrived, Bellatrix looked around in confusion. "Why are we at the Black Family Manor, and why are you now Proxy for the House of Black?" She stared at Fenrir while swaying from side to side to comfort Rigel, who did not like traveling through the floo as much Corvus did.

"That is actually a long story, Bella, but I am the guardian for the Heir to the Black family."

"Reg…Regulus had a child?" Bellatrix's eyes were wide as she looked at Fenrir.

"Come, we will discuss this in the Portrait Hall. Then Rigel here can meet Draco and Corvus while we talk." Lucius moved towards the door, already knowing that Narcissa would want to see her sister as soon as possible.

"Portrait Hall?" Rodolphus Lestrange asked as he guided his wife though the door with his hand resting on her back.

"That is where we spend most of our time now. It is where we tend to keep the children, as the Portraits can help look after Corvus and teach him things about his families. Merlin knows it is best to have as many eyes on the brat as possible." Fenrir sighed as he made his way towards the Portrait Hall, already dreading having to tell the whole story again. He would have to explain again to Barty later too, since he had left the courtroom with his father right after the trail was over.

Tom was silent as the group walked through the house behind his followers, a smirk the only expression on his face. Once they entered the Portrait Hall, it only took Narcissa a few seconds to process the fact that her sister was standing before her. She got out of her seat with a happy cry and wrapped her arms around her crying sister and the child she carried, tears running down her face. It took a few moments, but both women were able to regain control of their emotions fairly quickly, much to the relief of the men in the room. Soon they were sitting beside their husbands with no evidence of their tears showing.

"I am so glad that you are here, Bella, and who is this little one?" Narcissa smiled over at the boy with curly black hair as she lifted Draco into her arms. The boys had been playing in the corner when the adults had entered the room, and had come over so that they would be able to find out what was going on. Corvus was soon settled on the lap of Tom while he leaned forward to get a good look at the new baby. Draco was looking at the boy with a small frown on his little face.

"This is my new son, Rigel Xavier Lestrange." Bellatrix smiled down at the boy as she ran her fingers though his new curls. "The Wizengamot decided to vote on what final retribution would be and I was granted the right to blood adopt the Longbottom Heir. He is mine now."

"Well, I am glad that you finally have the son you wanted so badly. What do you think Draco? Can you say hello to your cousin, what was it Bella, Rigel Xavier? What a lovely name." Narcissa had looked up at her sister as she verified the name of the new baby.

Draco and Corvus began to squirm to get down at the same time, causing Tom to sigh as he placed his Heir on his feet. He watched as both boys made their way over to Bellatrix to look up at the boy sitting on her lap. The boy just looked down at them with wide eyes from his perch on Bellatrix's lap.

"Bellatrix, I am sure that you remember Draco, but this is Regulus's son, Corvus Hyperion Black. Heir to the Houses of Black, Loxias, Riddle, and Slytherin." Tom smirked at the dumbfounded looks on his followers faces. "Corvus, this is your cousin Rigel."

Corvus looked back at Tom for a moment before tilting his head to the side for a moment. He turned back towards Tom and pointed at the boy sitting in Bellatrix's arms. " 'Abier."

"No, darling, Rigel." Bellatrix smiled down at the adorable boy before her as she corrected the name.

He just looked up at her with his stormy eyes and a small frown as he repeated his new name for the boy. " 'Abier." With that he reached up to grasp the boys hand in his and began to tug. Draco watched Corvus for a moment before he reached for the boy's other hand and tugged as well. Blinking, Bellatrix placed her new son on the floor, where he was quickly pulled to the other side of the room by the other two boys. She watched as the boys began to show 'Abier" the pictures in the book that they had been looking at before the others had arrived. Draco sat between Corvus and his new cousin as he held the book in his lap, still frowning every once and a while at the new baby.

"It looks like he will be calling your new son by his middle name." Bellatrix just blinked at Severus's amused drawl.

"Surely the boy will learn to call him by his first name." Rodolphus stated from his place beside his wife. He was still having a hard time processing the fact that Regulus had managed to produce an heir.

Fenrir smirked. "Good luck with that. Our Lord tried to get the brat to call him Grandfather. The boy decided that he was more of a Papa instead, and refuses to call him anything else."

While the Lestranges looked at Tom incredulously, Tom simply ignored the looks and watched the boys at they showed the new Lestrange Heir their books.

"At least the boys seem to be alright with him. Draco is very protective of Corvus and I was not sure that he would accept another child near the boy." Tom nodded as Lucius told the others about his concern. "It looks like they will be alright though."

"I think that you should stay here for a few days." The Lestranges looked at Fenrir with their brows raised. He had startled them with the abrupt change of subject. "You will want to make sure that your house is in order before you go home, but there may be some things at your home that need to be taken care of before you move back in. I know that Dumbledore had some of the houses raided when the families were put into Azkaban, but I am not sure if yours was one that they were able to get through the wards."

After a few moments of discussion between the brothers, the agreed that they would stay at the Black Family Manor for a few days while they got their own house in order. After that had been decided, Fenrir explained everything that had happened in October and what had led to him becoming the new guardian for the Black Heir. All three Lestranges were horrified to hear what Dumbledore had done to the boy, and were amazed when they heard that he was able to wonder the house as though the wards did not exist. Hearing a laugh coming from the other side of the room, the adults watched as Corvus created his colored bubbles on the other side of the room for the boys to all pop. Xavier was laughing each time his finger popped one of the bubbles, causing the adults to smile.

It was a full week before the Lestranges had left the Black Family Manor for their own Manor. Even after they had settled into their ancestral home, the Lestranges could be found in the Portrait Hall of the Black Family Manor watching over Corvus as they spoke with the Dark Lord. Tom would sit in his armchair before his Inner Circle, and would discuss plans, new laws, and the news as he kept a close eye on his Heir. Draco and Xavier continued to be constant visitors at the Black Family Manor as the Inner Circle began to spend more and more time together there.

Corvus continued to be precocious and would settle himself in the lap of any adult that was within his sight, often bringing books for them to read to him. Out of all the adults, he still was most attached to Fenrir, Tom, and to Severus, who continued to refresh his Toddlers Potion Kit every few months and would bring him books that would show him pictures of different ingredients and brewing techniques. The others found it amusing to watch the stoic Slytherin react as Corvus would immediately attach himself to Severus whenever the man showed up. Severus seemed constantly stunned that the boy liked him almost as much as he liked his guardian and the Dark Lord.

The Lestrange household worked together to help Xavier become comfortable with his new home and family. They found a sweet elf named Bubbles that they assigned to be his personal elf and to keep watch over him instead of using the older family elves, since they were all set in their ways and a little bit too old to watch over a small child.

Xavier was a very quiet baby, but he would fuss if he woke up in a room by himself or if he had been left alone with Bubbles for more than a few minutes. Rodolphus could be found comforting the boy when he woke up scared in the middle of the night and Rabastan was always around to play with his new nephew. After a few months, Xavier would not hesitate to rush into the arms of any member of the Lestrange family and was no longer having trouble adjusting to his new home and family. Bellatrix was delighted when Xavier called her mummy for the first time.

While the adults and children were busy adjusting to their lives and to each other, the Wizarding world was being rocked by the news that The Daily Prophet was reporting every day. The Headlines that appeared in the paper the day after the Lestrange Trial caused the public to spiral into panic. Tom smirked as he read the article.

 _ **Lestrange Family Innocent!**_

 _ **Yesterday, at the first Wizengamot Session of 1982, Lord Grey requested that the trial of Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. be revisited. Lord Fenton Grey was granted the proxy seats for both of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Black and Loxias, and requested the retrial as the Proxy Head of Bellatrix Lestrange's Maternal House.**_

 _ **It was during his request that the members of the Wizengamot first heard that Lord Grey had witnessed Frank Longbottom curse Bellatrix Lestrange, ending her pregnancy. He then stated that he witnessed Alice Longbottom cursing her again while stating that "she would never be able produce another Dark Wizard." Lord Grey stated that by law, Bellatrix Lestrange was well within her rights to seek retribution against the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom, that there was no proof given that any Unforgivables had been cast during the attack on the Longbottoms and that the accused had never been questioned under Veritaserum as is required by law.**_

 _ **Mr. Dumbledore, who had obtained the Proxy seat for the Noble house of Potter just moments earlier, countered the request by ensuring that all laws had been followed while he had led the trial in question. He stated that the accused were well known marked followers of You-Know-who, and that there was simply no need to revisit the trial.**_

 _ **After a compelling second argument for the trial from Lord Malfoy, who stated that he had no memory of any proof given at the trial for the four accused to have been marked followers of You-Know-Who, Madam Augusta Longbottom spoke. It was strange to hear such a normally reserved woman of station spew vile accusations instead of presenting a firm argument. During her counter, she stated**_ "That filth is right where they belong and they deserve to rot in Azkaban for what they did to my son. There was no reason for them to hurt my son other than they were filthy Dark Wizards that hatted everything that was of the Light. This body should not have to cater to the whims of the Dark filth that stains our world." _**To say that the members of the Wizengamot were surprised by the speech would be an understatement.**_

 _ **The vote to revisit the trial was approved by a vote of 155 to 95.**_

 _ **Once the trial began, this reporter was stunned by what was revealed. Under Veritaserum, All four were questioned about their reasons for the attack on the Longbottoms. Bellatrix had sought retribution by cursing them with a spell that locks them into their worst memories until they feel remorse for their actions. That is right; they are able to counter the curse themselves, simply by feeling remorse. This is a far cry from the Unforgivables that we had been told were used before. Amelia Bones, Acting Chief Warlock, then questioned the accusation that the accused were following You-Know-who. It was a surprised crowed that looked down on the accused and found no marks on their arms and listened to their responses when asked if they followed You-Know-Who. The answer from all four was 'No.' It was through this testimony that the Wizengamot found the four accused innocent of all charges.**_

 _ **Once the trial was over, the Wizengamot made sure that retribution was carried out as well. Bellatrix Lestrange was able to blood adopt the Longbottom Heir as her own son and the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom will have to stand before the Wizengamot and defend their status as a Noble House at the next Wizengamot session.**_

 _ **Amelia Bones also informed the Wizengamot that there would be an investigation into all current inmates of Azkaban to insure that no one else had been condemned without sufficient evidence of their crimes. Throughout this investigation, Mr. Dumbledore will be suspended from his positions of Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump for the ICW.**_

 _ **As I left the courtroom, I had one question that was running through my mind. Is there anyone else suffering in Azkaban even though they are innocent? One thing is certain; I will ensure that my readers are kept informed of each trial as they occur.**_

 _ **P. J. Fellows**_

Over the next year, the Headlines continued to make waves in the Wizarding World. Wizards and Witches that had been sent to Azkaban for being followers of the Dark Lord were released after they had been questioned under Veritaserum and their arms shown to be clear of any marks. Dumbledore watched angrily as his work was undone right in front of him while he sat helpless to do anything other than glare across the courtroom at Tom.

Tom watched with a smirk as his followers were freed and Dumbledore's reputation was questioned. Though many people began to doubt Dumbledore and question his actions, he still had a large following that felt that the Ministry was being controlled by Dark Wizards that were letting the guilty out of Azkaban. The Light families became even more fanatical in their devotion to Dumbledore, believing that he was being unfairly treated by the Wizarding public.

Severus had reported to Tom that Dumbledore had called him to Hogwarts right after the trail for the Lestranges, furious that Severus had not told him what Tom had been planing. Tom had laughed along with his inner circle as Severus made his report.

" _Severus, why did you not tell me what Tom was planning?" Dumbledore twinkled at Severus as he unwrapped a lemon drop._

" _I am sorry Headmaster, Tom?" Severus raised his brow as he looked at the old man in confusion._

" _Tom, Lord Voldemort." Severus blinked at the Headmaster while trying to look like he was surprised. "I see, were you not aware that he was back?"_

" _No, I was not."_

" _Surely the mark would show that he was back. Has he not called you?"_

" _No he has not called me, and the mark has been gone since the night the Potter brat defeated him."_

" _What?" Dumbledore stood and quickly made his way around the desk to grab at Severus's wrist. "That should not be possible."  
_

" _It disappeared the moment that he died."_

" _He is not dead Severus. He has managed to claim his title as Lord Slytherin and now Lord Riddle. Are you sure that you were not aware of his return."_

" _I am positive."_

" _I see." Dumbledore had dismissed Severus with an absent minded wave of his hand and returned to his seat at his desk._

Soon after the meeting between Severus and Dumbledore, Severus was called back to Hogwarts to discuss the position that Dumbledore had wanted Severus to take before he had learned that Severus was not aware of Tom and his return. After a long conversation, Dumbledore had told Severus that he did not feel that Severus was ready to take on the position and that they should wait a few years. It seemed that Horus Slughorn was not going to retire after all.

Tom and his Inner Circle were not surprised when they had heard. They had already guessed that Slughorn was 'retiring' because Dumbledore wanted a way to keep a follower of Tom's close, and with Severus stating that he did not know Tom and that he had not been called, he was of no use to the Headmaster.

Tom was able to contact one of his followers, Broderick Pyrites, who was the Headmaster for Durmstrang Institute. Severus would be a Potions Professor part time for three years before taking over the position permanently.

Tom, Fenrir and the other parents were surprised to learn that there were four professors for each core subject at Durmstrang and at least two professors for each of the other subject taught at the school. This allowed the full time teachers to have free time, as well as give the students a more personalized study schedule, allowing them to work more at their own pace. With Severus working at the school, the parents of the three Heirs were amazed at the classes offered and the reports that Severus was providing about the general feel of the school. All of them were seriously thinking about sending the boys to Durmstrang.

It was late January 1983 when the Wizengamot was called to witness the last retrial for an inmate of Azkaban. Tom, Fenrir and Lucius watched as Sirius Black was granted his freedom and cleared of any charges. Once the trail was over, all three Slytherins were disgusted when Sirius rushed over to Dumbledore and began to thank him for getting him a retrial, never even questioning the circumstances that saw to his imprisonment without a trial in the first place.

"Sirius, my boy, I am so glad to see you. We must get you checked over by Madam Pomphrey immediately."

"Thank you Albus. I knew that you would not leave me in there."

"Of course, of course. Do you wish to stay at Hogwarts until you find somewhere to stay?"

"I guess my flat has been rented to someone else then? Well, I guess I could stay in one of the Black homes until I can find a new place. I really need to get to Gringotts and settle my accounts."

"Oh, my boy, I am sorry, but it seems that there is an Heir to the Black family. You will not be able to claim the Black family homes just yet, nor the vaults."

"Regulus had a child?" Sirius had stopped in the middle of the Atrium to look at Dumbledore incredulously, never noticing the three Slytherins that were watching and listening to every word. "How in Merlin's name did that happen?"

"I do not know. I only found out when a Lord Fenton Grey claimed Proxy for the House of Black last January. He is just as Dark as your brother was, and has been helping all the Dark Wizards to be freed from Azkaban. That is why it has taken so long to get you free, my boy." Dumbledore was twinkling brightly at the man before him.

"How am I going to claim the Black Vaults now, Albus. I only have my personal Vault, and I am not sure how much is left." Sirius Black was looking at Dumbledore as though waiting for instructions.

"It will work out, my boy. Come, we should get you to the Infirmary and have you looked at. I know that Remus is excited to see you."

Sirius looked up at Dumbledore with a happy smile. "Remus? Yeah, is he with Harry?" This question caused all three Slytherins to tense as they listened.

"Ah, my boy, Harry is safe with Lily's family."

"Petunia? She is a horrible cow, Albus." Sirius was twitching in irritation.

"It is for the boy's safety, Sirius. Lily provided a sacrifice that will ensure that Harry is safe if he is living with someone that shares her blood. That blood protection is keeping him safe from all of Voldemort's followers right now, and with so many freed from Azkaban; I fear that it is the safest place for the boy. I set up the Blood wards myself and have Arabella Fig watching over him."

Tom shared incredulous looks with the two men that were standing with him. He had never heard of any sort of blood protection that worked the way that Dumbledore had just described and had studied extensively around the world. All three were sure that no one would be stupid enough to believe the lies that Dumbledore was spouting.

"So he is protected from the Death Eaters if he lives with Petunia? Maybe he should stay with her then, at least he will have a family that way." Sirius was looking at Dumbledore as though he were a puppy waiting for praise. "I don't know what to do with a baby anyways."

Dumbledore just twinkled at Sirius Black while the three Slytherins watched in disbelief. Dumbledore and Sirius Black disappeared from the Atrium with the sharp crack of apparition.

The three Slytherins could not believe what they had just witnessed. None of them had been worried about someone connecting Harry Potter to Corvus Black, but they at least thought that he would try to claim his Godson, exposing to the public that Harry Potter was dead. All three just shook their heads as they left the Ministry to tell the others what they had just witnessed. After three months of checking the headlines, they realized that Sirius Black had not even bothered to check on his godson in person. Everyone still thought that Harry Potter was alive and happy.

Tom continued to quietly gain more and more influence in the Wizengamot while Dumbledore worked to rebuild his reputation. He was unable to regain his position with the ICW and had been suspended from holding the position of Chief Warlock for a further two years due to the amount of inconsistencies they found while conducting the investigations into the people that had been imprisoned at Azkaban.

Dumbledore had managed to convinced more than a few of the Wizengamot members that it was due to the Dark Times they lived in that so much had been overlooked, all the while he was telling anyone who would listen that the Dark Wizards and Witches had found a way to control the Wizengamot and release the guilty from their sentences. By the first session of 1985, Dumbledore was reinstated as Chief Warlock, much to the displeasure of Tom, Fenrir, and Lucius.

Even with Dumbledore holding the position of Chief Warlock, the Dark families were able to prevent some of the more damaging laws from being passed. Most of the Grey families that were known for being neutral, were voting with Tom and his followers, not quite trusting the word of Dumbledore any longer.

Fenrir continued to get reports from the Goblins that Dumbledore was emptying the Potter Trust Vault as soon it had been refilled for the year. He had asked the Goblins each time if he could access the Potter Family Vault to collect a few items for the boy, and each time the Goblins would deny the request.

Tom and his Inner Circle gathered for breakfast at the Black Family Manor each morning during the first days of 1987 where they would wait for the the Daily Profit. On the Fifth, they finally saw the headline they had been waiting for.

 _ **Gringotts Announces Harry Potter's Death!**_


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Hello all! I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter. I am so sorry for the long wait but updates on my stories will be sporadic throughout the summer because of my job. I wont be able to write at work as much as I do during our off seasons. I promise I am still working on them though. On another note, I will tell y'all that someone took my USB drive, which has lead to me redoing my outlines for my stories so that I know what mythos I have created for each story, as well as having to rewrite the chapters that I have already started on. It was actually because of this that I was able to write this chapter. I had been unsure of where I wanted to go, but was inspired while making a new outline.

Thank you everyone for the reviews. I love them all and hope that you continue to enjoy the story. As always, if you have questions, please let me know and I will respond through PM.

Happy Reading

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

{Parseltongue}

"It is about time." Fenrir smirked as he read the large Headline that dominated the front page of the Daily Prophet.

As had become their habit, the Inner Circle had met with their heirs to eat breakfast before their day began. After breakfast had been cleared away, the three seven year old boys would retreat to the Portrait room that had been used as a classroom for the three energetic boys since they had turned five.

Theory was mostly covered by the different Portraits, which ensured that the boys were learning things that were most often overlooked by modern teachers. One of the things that all three of the boys loved learning about was how the Old Ways were used within the different subjects. Most of the theory that the boys were learning from their ancestors was no longer taught at Hogwarts because the Old Ways were considered Dark and now Dumbledore was doing everything he could to ensure that people thought Dark was synonymous with evil.

The Old Ways ensured that the Wizards and Witches using Magic respected Magic itself. Whereas most of the Light families had turned their backs on the Old Ways and used Magic to solve any little problem while not respecting the same Magic they used, the boys were learning that respecting their Magic and following the traditions of the Old Ways actually made their Magic respond to them better as well as helped them understand the reasons why spells and potions were created and worked the way that they did. They also had very good control over their Magic and very rarely had accidental bouts of Magic. They would be more likely to purposefully summon something than to crack a mirror in anger.

Their lessons mirrored what they were hoping to take if they were to go to Durmstrang when they turned eleven. They had lessons from the portraits on Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Defensive Magic, Offensive Magic, Dark Arts, Rituals, Magical History, Magical Creatures, Herbology, Elemental and Earth Magic, Runes, Arithmancy, and various other subjects that the Black and Loxias family ancestors thought the children may be interested in or have a need of. French, German, Bulgarian, Russian were quickly added in to their studies with the intention that the three boys would continuing the study of languages as they became fluent in others. Even a few Malfoy and Lestrange ancestors found their way onto the walls of the Portrait hall so that they could assist with the education of the heirs of their houses.

As seven year olds, they did not spend much time working on practical spell work, though they did use training wands to ensure that they had the wand motions and pronunciations correct. Each of the members of the Inner Circle as well as Tom would spend afternoons working on wand motions and pronunciation. If they were able to 'cast' a spell correctly, the wands would shoot out colored sparks as an indication. Severus spent two afternoons a week working on Potions, Herbology, and Occlumency with the children, and was pleased to find that all three would do very well in his subject as well as keep their minds ordered.

Bellatrix and Narcissa ensured that the boys were receiving education on etiquette and Astronomy, while Tom, Lucius, Fenrir, and Rodolphus would take turns teaching the boys about how to manage their estates and houses. All three of the boys were very bright and did very well on their studies, making the adults extremely proud. However, Corvus seemed to fly through his lessons with an ease that astounded his guardians despite the knowledge that the boy had an eidetic memory. While Draco and Xavier would begin their essays and complete their individual work that would be looked over and graded, Corvus would be pulled away by one of the adults or portraits to go over something more advanced or detailed. While it caused more work for Corvus, he did not mind as he loved to learn and was still soaking up everything he could like a sponge.

The boys were not at the same level in each subject, but none felt that another truly out shined the others as they were oddly secure with each other and their strengths and weakness. Draco had told his parents one night when they had asked him if he ever felt like he was behind or ahead of the other two. They had remained slightly concerned about his ego as he still refused to get on with any of the other children his age. Corvus was his, and he had learned to like Xavier because he was family and because Corvus liked him.

Unsure if they should continue to have the boys study together or not, both the Malfoy parents sat down with their child to see how they felt about studying with the other two.

* * *

Malfoy Manor-Yule 1986

"Draco, have a seat darling." Narcissa patted the cushion beside her on the loveseat. Lucius was seated in an armchair across the room so that he would be able to see his heir's expressions as they talked.

"Yes mother?" Draco sat down smoothly in a perfect imitation of Lucius. He gave a little smile as he received an approving nod when he looked over at his Father.

"Darling, we wanted to know how you feel about studying with your cousins. Do you wish to study with them or would you rather study here at home?" Narcissa looked at Draco's baffled expression as she spoke and worried what his answer would be. "Your father and I would never want you to feel like you have to compete with your cousins in regards to your studies."

Draco just looked from his mother to his father and back again for a few moments. "But why would I compete with Xavier and Corvus?"

Both Narcissa and Lucius blinked as they tried to reconcile the comment to the son that they had watched throw things at any other child that dared to win or do something better than he could. Lucius was the one that spoke into the silence. "Draco, why is it you do not compete with Xavier and Corvus like you do with the Nott boy and the Parkinson girl?" They had both noticed that Draco acted completely different when with Xavier and Corvus than he did with any other children.

"Oh, well they are family and don't annoy me." Draco did not notice the quick smiles that his parents quickly hid from him when he looked up from his shoes. "They are my cousins, so we it is okay that they can do things better than me and it is okay that I can do things better than them. Theo and Pansy are annoying. Theo tries to make me feel bad when he does something better and Pansy keeps telling me that we are going to get married. I can't marry her; she does not like Xavier or Corvus so breakfast would be very uncomfortable if we got married."

"Breakfast?" Narcissa asked confused at her son's logic.

"Yes Mother, we have breakfast together every morning." Draco looked at his mother as though he was afraid that she had lost her mind.

"Oh but Draco, when you get married, you would probably have breakfast with your wife at your own home and not with your cousins." Narcissa did not understand the look that crossed her sons face, for she had never seen him express exasperation at her.

"Mother, we eat together every morning."

"Ahem, son, we eat at the Black Family Manner every morning because that is where the Dark Lord eats." Lucius looked at his son curiously when Draco immediately started to nod.

"Right, and Corvus is Papa's heir." Lucius winced as his son called the Dark Lord Papa, but there was nothing he could do about it since Corvus had a tantrum that caused it to rain for three weeks straight until both of his cousins were allowed to call him him Papa as well. Tom had given in when the rain had started to fall within the manor itself; he just sighed and walked off hissing to Nagini what Lucius could only assume was profanity from the fascinated look on Corvus's face as the Dark Lord walked past. "So when you are all old, well...older than now, he will be the Dark Lord and we will be his Inner Circle like you and Mother. So we will be eating breakfast together. Pansy would not make a good Inner Circle member because she is too annoying and so I cannot marry her. Oh, and Grandfather Pollux said that we would do better to get married from families not from Britain because the families here are full of something that made Grandmother Irma upset at him. He came back and told us that we all needed good marriages so that we could rebuild our families but Grandmother came back before he could explain how wives knew how to build families."

Both elder Malfoys blinked at their son as they processed his speech. Lucius's brow began to twitch as he realized that his wife's grandfather had almost given his son and his cousins 'the talk' at the age of six. Looking over at his wife, he realized that she was just as unhappy with her grandfather as he was.

"Don't worry dear, I will have Aunt Walburga and Mother speak to him." She looked over at Draco and could not help but smile as she thought about how proud she was of him. "Well then darling, if you want to keep studying with your cousins, then you shall. I am proud of you for you being so loyal to your family. Why don't you go up and get ready for bed."

With a kiss on his cheek from his mother and one on the forehead from his father, Draco rushed out of the room as only a young child could do.

Lucius joined Narcissa on the loveseat and pulled her into his arms so that she was resting against his chest with his cheek resting on the top of her hair. "Well, circular logic or not, he is correct that Corvus is the heir to our Lord and the Parkinson chit would be an awful Inner Circle member." He only had to wait for a few seconds before his wife was giggling away. Smiling at the sound, he rose from the loveseat and pulled Narcissa up with him. Kissing her gently on the lips, he pulled her hand so that it rested properly on his arm. Content with the happiness of their child, Lucius and Narcissa made their way to their bed.

* * *

While the boys would be studying with the portraits (now monitored closely by Walburga and Druella,) the Inner Circle would also begin their busy days. Tom, Lucius, Fenrir and Rodolphus would either spend the mornings working on estate business or dealing with the politics that came with having seats on the Wizengamot. Between the four of them, they had a total of twenty votes. Add to that, most of the grey families were still voting with the darker families due to their distrust of Dumbledore. This ensured that more than a few laws that would have prohibited the practice of the Old Ways and repressed some of the Darker Creatures did not pass.

Narcissa and Bellatrix saw to the day to day running of the houses they were in charge of as well as ensuring that their social engagements were all seen too. Some would have looked at the two women as flighty social butterflies that had nothing better to do with their time, but they were often more bogged down with parchment than the men. Lists upon lists were made, checked and then crosschecked to make sure that Lord Slytherin was seen among the Dark families, that the Inner Circle was seen when needed and had good reputations, and that their heirs had plenty of time do develop their social skills.

Even though there were eight members of the Inner Circle and the Dark Lord to watch over the three boys, the adults were often exhausted by the end of the day. Well behaved or not, three active and inquisitive boys was still very draining, and for some reason the boys never seemed to run out of energy. More than once the adults had sent thanks to Magic for Fenrir's thought to use the Portraits to look after Corvus. None of them knew what they would have done if the Portraits were not helping with the boys lessons.

"It is about time for what, Uncle Fen?" Corvus asked before placing a small bite of sausage in his mouth. Both Draco and Xavier were looking across the table with curious gazes as well. In fact, the comment had ensured that Fenrir had the attention of everyone at the table. Smirking when Tom gave him a nod, Fenrir began to read the article out loud.

 ** _Gringotts Announces Harry Potter's Death!_**

 _ **It is with extreme sadness that this reporter now has the duty to report that early this morning, Gringotts announced the death of the Boy-Who-Lived.**_

 _ **Gringotts reports that they conducted a Vault Ownership Test according to their internal procedures regarding Trust Vaults. When the owner of a Trust Vault has not been into Gringotts within five years, it is policy to run the Vault Ownership Test to ensure that the owner of the Vault is still in a position to claim the Vault.**_

 _ **Were the test to report that the Vault owner was alive and well, the Vault would have been frozen until the owner arrived at the bank and reclaimed the Vault. This is an internal protection that is placed on all of Gringotts Vaults to ensure that no compromises to security occur. This occurs every five years for all Vaults without us even having to know about it.**_

 _ **Unfortunately, the routine test on the Potter Trust Vault this morning came back with a result that showed the owner of the Vault was deceased. Gringotts had no other comments about the death of our Savior other than to report their findings while declaring the Vault to no longer be active.**_

 _ **While this is all the information that we have at the moment on the untimely death of the Boy-Who-Lived, the Daily Prophet wishes to assure our readers that we will endeavor to bring you more information as it is revealed. Though saddened, we will do our best to report to our readers even as we mourn.**_

 _ **P. J. Fellows**_

Everyone sitting at the dining table in the Black Family Manor that morning smirked or, in the case of three young boys snickered as the article was read. Though only seven, all three boys had been told about Corvus's history and how Fenrir had found him as soon as they could properly shield their memories. They had been waiting anxiously for the news to break that 'Harry Potter' was dead.

After they had settled down and finished their breakfasts, Narcissa and Bellatrix shooed the boys to the portrait room to begin their studies for the day while the adults went their separate ways to begin their own duties. For them, it was just another Monday morning, just with a bit of humor added in.

* * *

Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore sat in his office within Hogwarts and ate his breakfast while perusing his morning post. Because it was the winter holidays, the castle was blissfully empty and he did not feel the need to be present at meal time in the Great Hall. Though he had been able to regain much of his reputation of the last few years, there were still a few students that would glare at him or look at him as though they were not sure where he stood. It took everything he had not to expel them every time he saw the looks. Thankfully, his staff fully believed that he had been misrepresented due to the actions of Dark Wizards.

While some of his plans had been derailed since that horrible day in 1982 when Tom had claimed the title of Lord Riddle-Slytherin, a new Black heir had been announced, and the Lestranges released and allowed the second child that fit the requirements for the Prophecy, Dumbledore had been able smooth things over so that he still felt as though things would work out. He still was not sure how Tom had been able to subvert the Veritaserum questioning that his followers had been put through, and without the mark to prove they were followers of the Dark Lord, there was no way to prove that any of them were guilty of anything other than not following Dumbledore.

Dumbledore paused as he took a bite of his chocolate chip pancakes drizzled with chocolate syrup. _I cannot believe that I thought Severus would be useful. He did not even know that Tom was his real name or apparently ever see him without a glamour. It is a good thing that I found out how useless he would have been when it came to keeping an eye on Tom when I did. He would have been a useless spy._

Because of Tom's interference and the files for people that had been sent to Azkaban being double checked, Sirius Black had been released. Dumbledore had been worried that the idiot would insist on seeing Harry. Fortunately, Sirius still thought that the sun rose and set with Dumbledore's permission, and had believed him when assured the man that Harry was safer where Dumbledore had placed him. Sirius had said nothing else about his godson since unless it was brought up by someone else. Even then he would just tell stories about how his godson was so happy and brave like his father. Dumbledore twinkled as he thought about how that situation had turned out. Even Remus did not bother asking about Harry anymore, for where Sirius went, Remus followed.

That had been one of the best things that could have happened for Dumbledore at the time. He needed Harry to be raised by the Dursleys, away from the Magical world so that he would lean on Dumbledore when he was 'rescued.' He had no need for his weapon to think for himself or know that people around the country loved him for defeating the Dark Lord.

 _How in Merlin's name did Tom get his body back so fast? He should be week and disembodied if he had split his soul the way he should have. I just don't understand how he could have been strong enough to show up at that Wizengamot meeting._

The frustration that Dumbledore felt as he pondered Tom and his actions was making him feel as though he was walking on a tight rope. With Tom being active and working through Ministry channels to achieve his goal and subvert Dumbledore's, things were not nearly as easy as they should have been. Sighing in frustration as he pushed his plate away, he pulled the Daily Prophet from the pile of post the Owls had left on his desk.

It was only minutes later that a portrait of Phineas Black smirked at the outraged scream that came from the current Headmaster before he disappeared in a burst of green flame. That was well worth the wait in his opinion. Phineas looked around at the other sleeping portraits before smirking and leaving his frame. It felt like a good day to contribute to the education of his heir.

* * *

Dumbledore ignored the startled squeak of Arabella Fig when he appeared with no warning from her fireplace. She had jumped from her seat and was clutching her chest as she tried to recover from the fright that the Headmaster had given her. Before she could utter a word, he was out the door and heading for Number Four Privet Drive.

He was not very patient as he waited at the door. When it was finally answered by a boy that was just about as wide as he was tall, it was taking everything he had not to just blast the door open.

"Hello my boy, I need to speak with your mother." Dumbledore smiled tightly at the boy before walking into the house and past the boy. "Please go and fetch her for me."

The boy stared at the strangely dressed man dumbly for a moment before waddling towards the back of the house. "Mummy, there is a weirdo here to see you." Dumbledore took a deep breath as he reigned in the urge to curse the child.

"Who is it Dudders?" Petunia asked before stepping out of what Dumbledore could only assume was the kitchen of this wretched house. Upon seeing Dumbledore standing in her entryway, she paled and stepped back as though to retreat back to the kitchen. "I remember you. You are that man in charge of Lily's freak school."

"Yes Petunia, now, how is it that Harry is dead?" Dumbledore had not an ounce of warmth in his voice as he glared at Petunia with cold blue eyes.

Petunia stopped inching backwards as confusion stole across her face. "Harry? Who is Harry?"

Snarling at the answer, Dumbledore drew his wand and froze Petunia on the spot. Walking over so that he was looming over the frightened woman, he ripped through her mind determined that he would find out one way or another. Due to the force and anger behind the attack, it was only moments before Dumbledore found something out that made his blood run cold. Harry Potter had never entered the house on Privet Drive.

As the Headmaster pulled out of her head, Petunia was left standing, still frozen, with tears running down her face. She watched helplessly as the wand he held in his hand began to move as he started to mummer under his breath.

Soon her tears had stopped and she was left standing alone in the entryway, unable to remember what she had been doing. Looking around and seeing nothing that would cause her to be concerned, she made her way into the kitchen and loaded more bacon onto her Dudders plate. All three Dursleys continued through their day as they normally would, only to pause every once and a while to look around. Each of them felt as though something was just not right.

* * *

Albus fumed as he made his way back to Arabella Figg's house so that he could floo back to his office. This was not something that he had ever considered while making his plans. _Someone must have taken the boy the night I left him here if the stupid muggles have never even seen the brat. I thought that Arabella's reports that she had not seen the child just meant that I had over powered the compulsion charms to keep the boy isolated and beaten down too far. It was nothing that the boy could not have survived since the compulsion would have ensured that the boy was not beaten to a point that his life was actually in danger. What should I do now?_

Albus stood silently in the Arabella's living room while he thought of what his next step should be. Arabella just fluttered around him as she assured him that she was keeping watch on the house down the street and would have had tea ready for him if she had known he was stopping by. Such an honor it was to have Albus Dumbledore to visit her home.

Dumbledore just smiled and nodded until she had turned her back towards him. She never even saw the curse coming that hit her and caused agony to rip across her back. The curse severed her spine and nicked her artery, causing massive internal bleeding. Dumbledore said nothing as cleared his Magical Signature from her home as he waited for her to die. He completely ignored her body as he stepped over it so that he could access the floo and thought nothing more of her as he sat at his desk and made plans on how to deal with the news of Harry Potter's Death.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I am sorry for the long wait for this chapter and I think you for your patience. I have thought that this story was coming to a close much sooner than I wanted and so I continued to put off writing the next chapter to avoid being unhappy in how my story ended. I was thrilled today (Well...yesterday as it is 6am) when I was reading over my past chapters and suddenly knew exactly where I wanted to go next. I am sorry for the slow updates but I am updating my stories as I complete the chapters and I do have to wait for inspiration to strike sometimes.

Thank you everyone for all of the , if you guys have questions, please let me know and I will do my best to answer through PM. I hope you enjoy.

Happy Reading

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

{Parseltongue}

On the tenth of January; Tom, Fenrir, Rodolphus and Lucius made their way into the first meeting of the Wizengamot, which had been delayed from its normal date due to the news of Harry Potter's death. All four were working to keep their expressions neutral. Fenrir, Rodolphus and Lucius were positively gleeful at the thought of seeing Dumbledore try and explain what had happened to Harry Potter despite Tom's warning that Dumbledore would probably escape all blame somehow.

Upon taking their seats, all four of them were quick to look across the hall as Dumbledore sat in the Potter seat as though nothing had happened. They had known that he was not going to be sitting in this session as Chief Warlock as they had each received a letter notifying them of the change the day before as one of the items up for discussion was the Harry Potter situation. The fact that Dumbledore was still sitting as though proxy for the Noble House of Potter was disgraceful and caused more than a few of the others seated in the room to frown at the man.

Once the meeting had been called to order by their Minister, Millicent Bagnold, the members of the Wizengamot quickly decided that Amelia Bones would preside over the meeting as Acting Chief Warlock. Tom could not help but smirk at the feeling of deja vu that he felt as Amelia took her seat.

"It is the tenth of January; the first meeting of the Wizengamot is now called to order. The first order of business for today is to deal with the Harry Potter Situation. It is for this reason that Mr. Dumbledore is prohibited of acting in his capacity of Chief Warlock today, as there is a conflict of interest due to the fact that he was the Magical Guardian of the child."

"Mr. Dumbledore, please explain why you are still sitting in the seat designated for the Noble House of Potter as a Proxy and not in the gallery."

The room was completely silent as Dumbledore stood and adjusted his yellow and pea green robes. "Acting Chief Warlock Bones, I merely sit here as I am truly unsure that the child is actually deceased. The Book of Names still has yet to list him as deceased."

A few mummers were heard throughout the room.

"I see, please be aware that you may sit in that seat for today only and that you may not vote today as Proxy for the Noble House of Potter. The house shall remain dormant until such time as it is proven otherwise and The Book of Names is not a source the Ministry uses to confirm house status. Scribe, please notate that Mr. Dumbledore holds no votes for this meeting."

While Dumbledore did not look pleased, he did not protest the decision. He would work on figuring out how to keep the Potter seat when he had evaded blame for this current mess.

"As to the matter of Harry Potter, I believe that the Head of the Auror Office, Rufus Scrimgeour has a report. Auror Scrimgeour, you have the floor."

"Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones." A man with a wild mane of hair made his way onto the floor with a file clasped in his hands. "The day that Gringotts made its announcement, I immediately gathered a team of Aurors together with the intent of investigating. By the time my team had assembled and been debriefed on what we were looking into and they had a chance to calm themselves from the news, Mr. Dumbledore had arrived. Upon his arrival, I and Auror Shacklebolt interviewed Mr. Dumbledore as to where he had placed the boy. It is well known that Mr. Dumbledore saw to his placement and he had always provided us with information on the boy-who…Harry Potter. Mr. Dumbledore was quick to tell us the location of the muggle aunt that had been raising the boy."

"At that time, I took my team of Aurors to the location provided by Mr. Dumbledore while Auror Shacklebolt remained behind with Mr. Dumbledore. Upon our arrival and search of the home, we realized that there were no indications that Harry Potter had ever been in the home. I then used Legilimency to search the memories of the muggle family of Harry Potter, only to find that most of their memories had been erased. It is the opinion of the Auror Office that a Wizard or Witch came into Harry Potter's home and removed any evidence of his existence from the home and the memories of his family. It is unknown at this time as to the identity of the Witch or Wizard in question as there were no traces of a signature to investigate, nor were there any other signs that would point us as to what truly happened to Harry Potter. The Auror Office has no suspects of any crimes at this time in regards to this matter, though we will continue to search for answers."

"I see. Does anyone have anything to add in the matter of the Harry Potter situation?" When Dumbledore stood, Amelia nodded. "Mr. Dumbledore, you have the floor."

"Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones. As I stated before, I do retain hope that Harry Potter still lives due to his name remaining in the book of names. It is my hope…that the report from Gringotts was in error and that one day we may yet find the boy that saved us all. I have spent quite a bit of time with the boy, and he was always a bright and inquisitive child. He reminded me quite a bit of his father with his mischievous ways. I was devastated to hear of the report of his death and sincerely hope that it is an error. I will begin a search of any magics that would be able to fool the goblins as to the health of a client immediately."

Even as he spoke, he was remembering all he had done to clear himself of any blame. It would be all the better if he could blame it on one of the Dark Wizards and Witches.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _Dumbledore arrived back in his office and began to pace furiously from one end of the office to the other while ignoring the normally soothing trills of his phoenix Fawkes. His mind was furiously working in an attempt to figure out where the blasted boy could be while at the same time desperately trying to find a way to keep him from being blamed for the boy's death._

 _He paused for a moment before snarling a curse that caused the portraits that were awake to raise their eyebrows. He made his way quickly back to the floo and retraced his footsteps back to the front door of the Dursleys, this time having had the forethought of disillusioning himself._

 _The Dursleys never heard a sound as their front door opened and had no chance of defending themselves from their unseen attacker from their seats at the kitchen table. Within moments they had been frozen and Dumbledore was once more ripping into Petunia's mind._

 _This time however, he was not looking for information on the boy, but trying to hide the fact that they had never had the boy in the first place. Quickly and with little regard to the damage he was leaving behind, Dumbledore began to erase memories. It would have been better if he could have created false memories, but they would be found out to be creations if they were ever examined closely. The best he could do was to erase most of their memories from the time that Harry should have been in their home._

 _Once he had finished with Petunia, he moved on to her husband. Dumbledore felt no guilt when he realized that some of the memories he was erasing dealt with the man's occupation. It would not affect Dumbledore if the man was unable to do his job after this. Dudley was quickly summited to the same treatment._

 _Finally feeling that he could not be blamed for the death of Harry Potter, Dumbledore erased his signature from the home and made his way back to Arabella's to floo back to his office. He never spared a second thought to the Dursleys who he left sitting in confusion at their kitchen table._

* * *

While Dumbledore retook his seat after his speech, Tom and his followers were staring at the old man incredulously. They had never imagined that the man was such a good actor. They were also baffled at the information provided by the Auror Office and could only surmise that Dumbledore had worked fast to cover his tracks. Honestly, the man had managed to come across as a grieving grandfather type that had been devastated at the death of his ward. Tom was not the only one that was disappointed with the way Dumbledore came out smelling like roses.

The room was silent for a few minutes as they waited the required amount of time for someone else to request to take the floor. When no one stood, Amelia nodded and spoke softly.

"Very well. Scribe, please notate that the Harry Potter situation will be shelved until such time as new evidence is found and brought before this body." Amelia organized the files in front of her for a few moments before speaking again. "The next order of business for this first meeting of the Wizengamot for the year is new business presented by the houses. The only item up for discussion was what our original meeting would have concerned and the Offices of the Ministry of Magic thank everyone for their understanding with the change of schedule. Lord Riddle-Slytherin as the Head of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of has asked to bring an issue before this body today. Lord Riddle-Slytherin, you have the floor.

"Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones." Tom nodded in respect as he stood gracefully. "As the Head of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Slytherin, I feel it prudent to approach this body with a matter regarding Hogwarts and the position of Headmaster." Tom fought a smirk as he saw Dumbledore lean forward in alarm. "As the Board of Governors is a sub-committee of this body, it is proper that this issue be addressed by the Wizengamot as a whole."

"After taking up my position as the Head of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Slytherin, I naturally took an interest in the school that my ancestor helped to found. During the course of my investigations I learned quite a few things that concerned me greatly. I was shocked at the amount of classes that had been removed in the short time that Dumbledore had been Headmaster. With the removal our children are no longer able procure positions within our society that requires such an education. This naturally led me to making inquiries at the Department of Magical Education. Hogwarts is supposed to be the finest magical institution in the Wizarding World, but reports at the Department of Magical Education from the Wizarding Examinations Authority show that our students are not even among the top fifty in any of the given subjects that we are teaching. The Wizarding Examination Authority has made multiple requests for something to be done to raise the scores that the children of Hogwarts are averaging that are found in the archives. Quite frankly, children graduating from Hogwarts would be hard pressed to find employment outside of Great Britain, much less find a Master to take them on as apprentices. I was disturbed at the thought that my ancestors school having such a dismal reputation and so made further investigations. While looking into the charter of the school, I found a clause."

Tom made sure that Dumbledore could see the book as he pulled it out from his pocket. It was one of the original books of the Hogwarts Charter. Only three were known to still be in existence. One of the books was in the Ministry of Magic's Archives, one at the School itself in Dumbledore's desk, and the one that Tom was holding. Dumbledore paled as Tom began to read.

"If, at any time there is a legal heir to one of the founding houses and the state of the school under the current Headmaster is found to be lacking, the legal heir can then be appointed as Headmaster for the period of five years as they work to the betterment of the school. At the end of said five years, the Ministry of Magic will then be responsible in checking the results before appointing a new Headmaster or appointing the legal heir to the position permanently."

"I was surprised when I found this, but also relived as I am eager to see Hogwarts as the premier school that it is meant to be. I sent this information ahead so that this could be verified before this body met. It is my request that I be granted the five years stipulated in the original charter to help make my ancestor's legacy great again."

Tom retook his seat with another respectful nod directed towards Amelia. After he was settled again, he raised his eyes to meet furious blue eyes across the room. Tom was pleased to see that there were no twinkles present in the old man's gaze now. Tom was quite happy at the thought of the energy and effort that Dumbledore must be putting forth to keep himself from blowing up and making a fool of himself.

Amelia cleared her throat. "I have here the information that Lord Riddle-Slytherin provided and it has indeed been verified by our Archivist. Today we will be voting on the matter of installing Lord Riddle-Slytherin as Headmaster of Hogwarts for the next five years. Would anyone like to put forth a counter to Lord Riddle-Slytherin's request?"

The noise of about fifteen people standing was startling in the previous quite that had blanketed the room. Amelia simply checked the file on her desk that would report who had stood first. It was no surprise when she called upon the next speaker. "Mr. Dumbledore, you have the floor."

While the others sat down, Tom noticed that the majority of those that had stood in protest were those that were staunchly Light families. His reasoning for presenting this now and not delaying was because he thought that only those that were franticly loyal to Dumbledore would side with him. Even if he came out of issue of Harry Potter clean, others would have his failings fresh in their minds while thinking about the education of their children; something few were willing to endanger.

"Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones." Dumbledore's voice was tight with anger. "I would ask that this body dismiss this request as Hogwarts is as it has always been: a shining beacon in the darkness. I have spent decades ensuring that our children are educated and ready to enter our world as productive citizens. Hogwarts graduates have always been envied within the Wizarding World and I feel that my tenure as Headmaster has ensured that our children learn productive and safe methods of using magic. The only classes that have been removed during any Headmasters tenure has been due to its relevancy in our world and the safety or danger that such a class could provide a student. I would have to question why someone would feel the need to disrupt our children's education in such an obvious attempt to reintroduce the Darker Magics back into our school. This is nothing but the attempt of the Darker Families to propagate their agendas to our children. This…farce of a request should be dismissed immediately for the safety of our children."

Dumbledore had not spoken with his normal grandfatherly mien as he was so obviously angry. As he took his seat the other members that followed where he lead were nodding emphatically. Before he had even fully seated himself others were standing for rebuttal.

"Madam Marchbanks, you have the floor." Amelia spoke slowly as she blinked at the elderly woman that very rarely spoke in her capacity as the Proxy for the Ancient and Most Noble House of Marchbanks. Her son normally held the seat but he had been unable to sit for the Wizengamot meeting for a year now as he recovered from a severe bout of Dragon Pox.

"Thank you Acting Chief Warlock Bones. I would ask…actually, I would plead that all of you approve this request. I have submitted many requests for improvements over the years though the Department of Magical Education and to Mr. Dumbledore and each and every one had been ignored by the current Headmaster of Hogwarts. I have seen the decline of scores within the classes that Hogwarts still offers and they are not even comparable to the other schools anymore. Students from Hogwarts would find their credentials lacking in the international sphere. For example, an Outstanding in Great Brittan would be the equivalent of an Acceptable. Each year, the Department of Education is forced to submit final grades based on a scale that is only accepted in our borders and this is something that is commonly known to the international communities. This is obvious in the complete lack of transfer students that Hogwarts received where there was on average three to five a year before Mr. Dumbledore's tenure as Headmaster."

"The classes that Mr. Dumbledore states were removed due to safety or relevancy are still needed in Hogwarts. Some of you that are younger and that work in the Ministry have experienced the need for additional education once you leave the grounds of Hogwarts. Learning about Spell Creation, Enchanting, Rituals, Ethics, Politics and such are not a part of any propaganda and in no way dangerous for children to learn. To say such a thing is nothing but balderdash. Hogwarts taught Dark Arts until Mr. Dumbledore took the reins. I am sure that some of you remember the class if you are old enough. It was not evil, nor was the Dueling Courses that were offered. The graduates coming from Hogwarts now would stand no chance if they were faced with a duel from someone outside our borders. If anything, removing this curriculum is dangerous as it leaves our people unable to defend themselves as they simply do not have the knowledge. I urge each of you to take this matter seriously, as this not only impacts our children, but our society as well. Lack of proper education leads to a lack of those qualified to heal, to create, to defend. If someone is willing to teach our children what they need to make something of themselves…let them."

Tom was shocked as he watched the ancient woman retake her seat in the careful way the elderly normally moved. Griselda Marchbanks had always held Dumbledore in high esteem and the family was considered to be predominantly Light. He certainly had not expected support to have come from that avenue. Judging by the betrayed look Dumbledore was shooting the elderly woman, he had been just as shocked.

Fewer people stood for the last chance of to argue against the request, but those that stood were once again on their feet before the previous speaker had fully regained their seat.

"Mr. Doge. You have the floor."

"Thank you, Acting Chief Warlock Bones. I should not have to tell anyone that Albus Dumbledore works very hard for the betterment of our society, but I will and I will ask that you denied this request. Albus Dumbledore is the best person to be in the position of Headmaster for Hogwarts. The children could hope for no better mentor or for an example of how to be a good Wizard. He has ensured for decades that our children are not taught Magics that would lead them down a path of Darkness and evil, something that he is uniquely suited for as he is the defeater of Grindelwald and even mentored the Potters, whose child saw to the defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Our children would be in danger if Albus Dumbledore was removed from Hogwarts."

Tom was not the only one that was staring at the dumpy man incredulously as he tried to convince them that rainbows shot out of Dumbledore's arse while he imparted his impressive knowledge to the masses. Honestly, it was not even a real argument which caused some of the others that had stood to glower at the man having recognized the failed chance to actually try and make an argument for keeping Dumbledore in his place as headmaster. Doge had just helped Tom's cause right along.

"We will vote on the issue now." Amelia stated with a small shake of her head. "Please remember Mr. Dumbledore, that you currently have no votes." She did not even see the expression on Dumbledore's face as she gave her reminder having her attention on the paperwork in front of her. "In the matter of installing Lord Riddle-Slytherin as Headmaster of Hogwarts for the next five years, at which time his tenure will be reviewed by this body for renewal depending on if there had been marked improvements. These improvements would be verified by The Wizarding Examinations Authority and the Department of Magical Education. Those in favor of granting the request raise your wand and be counted." She waited a moment for the count to be calculated. "Those in favor of denying the request raise your wand and be counted."

Tom leaned forward as Amelia prepared to announce the results. Across the hall he could see Dumbledore leaning forward as well.

"Scribe, Please notate that Lord Riddle-Slytherin's request to installing himself as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the next five years was granted by this body by a vote of 137 to 112. According to the charter Mr. Dumbledore is required vacate his office within three days and Lord Riddle-Slytherin will begin a review of the school which will last until the end of the year. Any changes will become active during the next school year as the next term is due to start later this week. We will revisit this decision on the first meeting in the year 1992."

As she spoke, Tom basked in the glee he felt at Dumbledore incredulous expression. He could hear the others already whispering quietly to each other in their excitement.

"It is the tenth of January; this first meeting of the Wizengamot is now closed."

While Dumbledore's supporters crowed around him to offer comfort, the reporters were already out the door with the intent to get the news that Dumbledore had been replaced as Headmaster by Lord Riddle-Slytherin. This was worthy enough to make a special evening addition of the _Daily Prophet_.

Tom quietly accepted congratulations from the Dark and Neutral families while those in his Inner Circle stood nearby discussing the meeting. One of the last people to come and congratulate him was Griselda Marchbanks who was leaning on a Cain.

"Tom Riddle, I remember giving you your examinations. You were exceptionally bright. At the time I thought that you reminded me of a young Albus Dumbledore as he extremely bright too." She either did not see or ignored the look of disgust that crossed Tom's face for a second at the comparison. "I do hope that you are able to correct the mistakes that he has made. I am tired of holding mediocre examinations."

"I will do my best Madam. I hope to bring the standards up at Hogwarts before it is more families begin to seek other options for schooling."

"You see that you do young man."

The elderly woman reached up and patted the Dark Lord on the cheek before slowly moving away. Turning to face his followers who were looking at him with wide eyes while his eyebrow twitched, he spoke in a harsh whisper.

"Not one word."

As he swept out of the room and towards the Atrium with the others following, they could hear him muttering under breath about crazy old women. Corvus would have been fascinated with some of the inventive profanity his papa could come up with on the fly.

With a quick turn of his heal, Tom Disapparated to the gates of Hogwarts with his followers close behind.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter. I did not write anything for a little while as I had gotten sick and did not want to write anything, so I am glad that I am finally getting this out there. Thank you to everyone that posted a review and as always, if you have a question just let me know and I will try to answer through PM.

Happy Reading

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

{Parseltongue}

Upon his arrival at the gates of Hogwarts Tom took a deep breath as he took in the sight of the great castle. The three pops that indicated the arrival of Fenrir, Rodolphus, and Lucius barely registered as he basked in fact that he was finally in a position to help the first home he had ever had.

They did not speak as they made their way up the walk to the massive front doors of the castle. As they came closer they could see a frowning Dumbledore waiting with his Auror escort which caused the four to chuckle under their breaths.

"Thank you for waiting for me gentlemen. I was delayed in the meeting room." Tom nodded to the Aurors before turning his blank gaze towards Dumbledore and making a sweeping gesture towards the doors. "I am ready to accept the wards, Dumbledore."

Dumbledore looked like he had eaten a handful of his prized lemon drops. "Follow me." He turned and stiffly marched towards the third floor where his office was located. When they reached the Gargoyle that guarded his office, he practically spat out the password "Cauldron Cakes" before leading them up the stairs and into the office.

The office was slightly rounded with the walls around the massive desk absolutely covered in shelves that were covered in books and random clutter which was made worse by the spindly tables with intricate devices resting upon them. The rest of the walls were covered by cupboards containing the records and paperwork that was needed for the office of the Headmaster as well as the Hogwarts pensive, one of the oldest in existence. Above the storage cupboards were the many portraits of past headmasters; each and every one were wide awake and looking down at the occupants of the room with interest.

To the left and right of the desk were two staircases that led to the next level and Dumbledore slowly and quietly led them up the left hand side and into a private sitting room that could not be seen from the office below. On the wall was the Hogwarts Crest with two smaller crests with holes in the center. The one on the right was the Gryffindor Crest while the one on the left was blank. Dumbledore walked over and paused before jabbing the end of his wand into the Gryffindor Crest. He then turned to address Tom through clenched teeth. Tom smirked as he observed the absence of Dumbledore's famous twinkling eyes.

"This crest represents the current Headmaster of the school and is where direct control and changes are made to the wards. It will change to the Slytherin Crest once the Wards are transferred. Had you been from another school it would change to your school's Crest. Place your wand in the hole within the blank crest and the transfer will automatically begin."

Tom was much more careful than Dumbledore had been as he slipped his yew wand into the slot provided. Immediately the crest of Slytherin House was displayed and Tom could feel the weight of the wards settling on his shoulders and into his magic.

It took about five full minuets for everything to be transferred and for the two men to pull their wands from their respective crests. The Gryffindor Crest flashed briefly before settling on the Slytherin Crest. Dumbledore glared at Tom with his eyes complexly devoid of any twinkles as he backed away from the Slytherin Crest to make room for Tom. The Aurors that had accompanied them shifted uncomfortably at Dumbledore's behavior as Tom moved over to the new Slytherin Crest and once again slid his wand into the slot. For ten minutes they waited until Tom was satisfied with his understanding of the ward scheme and the few changes that he felt were immediately necessary.

"Very well. Thank you Aurors for your assistance today."

"You are welcome Headmaster Riddle-Slytherin." The oldest of the Aurors nodded before leading the others away.

Once they were finally alone, Dumbledore finally broke his silence while ignoring the other three men.

"I suppose that you are happy now Tom?"

"Yes, Yes I do believe I am." Tom did not bother to hide his smirk from the older man.

"Mark me well, Tom, this will not be your office for long. The people will not like it when you begin to teach their children your Dark ways and I will be back behind that desk before you know it. You have no hope of filling my shoes."

"Hn. We will see if you are ever welcomed back into this office. In the meantime, please ensure that you vacate the premises fully with your personal belongings by five in the evening on the thirteenth. Now, I believe that dinner is about to be severed. Why don't we go ahead and have… _my_ staff…join us in the teachers' lounge so that we can let them know about the change in our status." Tom continued to smirk at the old man as he walked past with his followers right on his heels.

As they walked down the hall towards the teachers' lounge Tom was already mentally going over the changes that he wanted to make to the school. The first thing he would have to deal with would be the teachers and the announcement they were about to make. Truly, this announcement could not have come at a better time. If this had happened while classes were in session there would have been much more unrest than they were going to experience. Tom had chosen the Teacher's Lounge because it would be away from any students that were left in the castle over the Holidays. Tom was positive that the teachers should be told in private as a few of them would probably be unhappy with the change.

After sliding his wand into another Slytherin Crest beside the door within the Teacher's Lounge, a way of sending messages to staff about meetings, Tom made himself comfortable in the armchair at the center of the room while his followers placed themselves around the chair in various positions. Dumbledore just stood glaring at Tom until the first teacher arrived. As each teacher arrived, Tom would quietly ask that they wait patiently until all were present for an important announcement. A few teachers bristled at Tom telling what to do; such as McGonagall, Sirius and Hagrid, and when they looked to Dumbledore for information they were completely baffled at the frozen look on his face as he stood silent.

As the last professor slid into a seat McGonagall shifted in her seat and demanded answers in her thick brogue. "Now, what is all this about. Albus, what is Riddle doing here?"

"My dear…" Dumbledore began only to be cut off by Tom.

"It is nice to see you too Minerva. I am here because I have an announcement. Earlier today, the Wizengamot voted to replace Albus Dumbledore as Headmaster due to the falling standards here at Hogwarts. As of about fifteen minutes ago, I became the new Headmaster and your employer."

"What!" McGonagall's shriek of outrage was almost impossible to hear over Hagrid's furious sputtering. Sirius Black could be heard muttering under his breath about slimy Slytherins as he glowered at Tom and his followers but he refrained from making as much noise as Hagrid and McGonagall. A few of the other teachers looked upset but most just looked confused as to what was going on. Filius Flitwick just sat back in his chair beside Pomona Sprout and observed.

Tom let off a loud bang with his wand. "I think you will find that I already have, Mr. Hagrid. Mr. Dumbledore will be leaving the grounds of Hogwarts by five on the thirteenth. You have until then to come to terms with having me as your employer and to say your goodbyes. If you find that you do not wish to work at Hogwarts under my Headship, well then, please let me know so that your duties can be fulfilled by someone else. We will be having formal staff meeting after dinner on the thirteenth and attendance is mandatory. Classes will resume on the fifteenth and we will have a lot of information to go over before they arrive."

"I am sure that you can address them now Tom; they are already here after all." Dumbledore seemed to be trying to resume his grandfatherly demeanor as he spoke with a slight twinkle in his eyes. The grandfatherly persona had never impressed Tom.

"I could…but I will not. I will give them time to come to terms with what is obviously a shock and allow them to say their goodbyes. Of course, it is probably for the best that we wait anyway as they would not be distracted by non-staff members in attendance." Tom smirked again as Dumbledore began to glower at him again and McGonagall resumed her ranting.

Tom rose smoothly from his chair and made his way out of the room. Sharp silence fell as the door to the teacher's lounge closed cutting off the chaotic noise within. "Well then. That should keep them busy for a while." Tom smirked as he began to walk down the hall.

"The look on McGonagall's face was priceless. Did you know that Black was working here?" Lucius asked as he walked along with the others.

"I did not, but I am not surprised. He would have to have some type of employment as he has no access to the Black vaults. I suppose he teaches Defense as he was an Auror at one time."

"I cannot even begin to imagine him as a teacher." Rodolphus sneered and looked around the dusty hallway they were traversing. "Where are we going?"

"Hn. I wanted to be away from the teacher's lounge before I called an elf. I would rather avoid the teachers for now; especially while Dumbledore is still here." His followers said nothing as they followed him along to an unused classroom. Gaining control of Hogwarts had been something that Tom had wanted for a long time and they all knew that he had plans for the school, but they could also understand the desire to keep those plans from Dumbledore if at all possible. "This will do. Head Elf." Tom spoke firmly as he called for the Head Elf of Hogwarts.

An old and wrinkly elf wearing a clean tea towel with the Hogwarts crest on it popped into room. "New Headmaster is calling for Onyx?"

"Onyx, will any of the elves follow orders from Dumbledore?" Tom asked.

"No, new Headmaster. The elves is being feeling the bond shift to new Headmaster."

"Wonderful. I am Lord Riddle-Slytherin and I need information on Hogwarts. First, I will be moving to Hogwarts as will others that will begin teaching here. Tell me about living quarters located in the castle."

"Hogwarts is being having many quarters for teachers. Headmaster Riddle- Slytherin is being staying in Founder Rooms."

"Founder Rooms? I have not heard of those?"

"No Headmaster Riddle-Slytherin. They is being behind magic's that makes peoples forget about them. They are only supposed to be used by someone that is from the families of the Founders."

"I see. I would like to see these rooms."

"They is being located on fifth floor. I wills meet you at the tops of the stairways and show you the way." With a quiet pop the elf disappeared.

"Alright. Let's go see these rooms." Tom said as he walked out of the room. Right before he disappeared through the doorway he turned back and smirked at his followers. "I guess we can then think about where your own quarters will be located."

All three men paused for a moment before Fenrir began cursing a blue streak under his breath. Lucius paled as he whispered. "What does he mean 'our quarters?"

Tom was still smirking when they arrived at a back stretch of wall towards the back of the castle. Had the elf not been leading them through the twisting corridors they never would have found this area of the castle. A few hallways that had looked like dead ends would have sharp turns that would open to yet another corridor. It was not surprising at all that these halls were unused and covered in thick layers of dust.

Lucius looked down at the elf with a frown. "Is there a reason that so much of this castle is covered in filth?"

Onyx looked at the floor sadly as he explained "Old Headmaster Dumblesdore is being telling the elves not to be cleaning unused parts. There is not beings enough work for the elves anymore."

"Well that will soon change. We will discuss this latter though. Open" Tom placed his hand on the wall where he could feel the wards telling him a door to the rooms was located. The wall seemed to melt away to show the entrance to the living quarters.

It took almost thirty minutes before the four men had been shown the entirety of the living area by a slightly embarrassed Onyx. After showing them a very dusty living room, he called a few of the other elves to begin cleaning while he showed them around. There were four good sized bedrooms that each had attached bathrooms, a dining area, a fairly good sized library, two studies, and two rooms that were complete empty.

Returning to the living room, Tom settled himself into a large wingback chair. "This should work out well. I think I will have the two empty rooms combined into one and we will move the portraits from Black Manor here so that the boys have somewhere to have their lessons while we are busy."

"We?" Fenrir was having a hard time containing the soft growls that were escaping as he looked at his Lord.

"Yes we. I have been making plans for a while and plan for quite a few of my followers to try their hand at teaching. I will need quite a few new teachers and will need to be assured that the teachers are not idiots. I will stay here tonight, but you Fenrir, may go home and arrange to have everything moved here. If I am only allowed this position for only the five years, we will then move to one of the manors closer to Durmstrang anyway." Turning to look over towards Lucius and Rodolphus who had taken seats on the couch, he continued to speak with a small smirk. "I will arrange for you to have your own suits of rooms of course. Preferably along this hallway. Onyx."

The elf stepped forward from the corner he was standing silently in. "Yes Headmaster?"

"Are their other rooms along this corridor?"

"There is not being any rights now, Headmaster, but you cans be moving other rooms here if you is wishing to."

"I thought so. Will I also be able to have a door that will attach my rooms here to the Headmaster's office once Dumbledore has left?"

"Yes Headmaster. You is just needing to use the wards to be telling the castle what you is wanting."

Tom smirked. "Perfect."

The next few days were extremely busy for Tom, his followers and their households. Elves worked tirelessly to pack and transport things to the castle and into the family vaults in preparation for their stay at Hogwarts. Fenrir, Lucius, and Rodolphus kept an eye on the activity around them before closing and warding their houses to the best of their ability for the foreseeable future. Bellatrix and Narcissa made sure that everything went smoothly and that the elves knew where everything belonged; they spent most of their time checking and double checking an endless supply of lists. Rabastan, Severus, and Barty took turns keeping an eye on Corvus, Draco and Xavier, who were practically bouncing off the walls at the prospect of living at Hogwarts. Severus was the only one that was able to get the boys to quiet down as he would pull out their potion kits and keep them busy for hours.

Tom found himself equally as busy as he had immediately had Onyx fetch the accounting ledgers from the Headmaster's office and bring them to him in his rooms. Had it not been for Onyx bringing him food and telling him that it was late, Tom would have remained immersed in the ledgers for days on end. Tom did not bother leaving his quarters until early on the thirteenth, when he finally decided to join the staff at breakfast.

He was not surprised at all to find that he was the first to arrive in the Great Hall that morning as he had gotten up before the sun made its appearance. Tom grinned widely as he sat in the large chair at the head of the single table they used during holidays; honestly, it was much more throne than a chair, but it had been the Headmaster's chair since the school had been founded. The massive chair even had its own chapter in _Hogwarts a History_.

Slowly, as Tom sipped at his tea, others began to filter into the room and take their seats. Horace Slughorn claimed a seat next to Tom and began to wax poetical about the latest gift one of his past students had sent to him. Filius Flitwick claimed the seat on his other side and politely began conversing with the new Headmaster. Pomona Sprout and Septima Vector were the next to claim seats and begin to speak with Tom. While conversation flowed easily on his end of the table, Minerva McGonagall, Sirius Black and Hagrid each claimed seats as far away from him as they could without sitting in the seats that were normally reserved for the students.

By the time that Dumbledore joined them the students had all arrived and begin to load their plates. They were not shocked to see someone new in the Headmaster's chair as Tom's appointment had been on the front page of the Daily Prophet along with information about Hogwarts falling standards.

Tom could hear McGonagall and Black complaining to Dumbledore while Hagrid kept blowing his nose into an over sized handkerchief while blubbering about how unfair that Dumbledore got booted. Most of the students and teachers were trying their best to ignore the horrible table etiquette. During the lulls in his own conversation he could hear Dumbledore encouraging them to keep him in the loop and that he would never be very far from Hogwarts in times of need. Tom hid a snort at his continued attempts to make himself look like a savior and then had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as the three adults lapped it up.

As the meal progressed, the few students that remained watched as Dumbledore glared at Tom while Tom ignored him all together. It was only after the meal had ended that Dumbledore approached Tom, causing everyone that was still in the room to stop and watch the interaction.

"Tom, my boy, may I speak with you for a moment." Dumbledore drew himself up with imagined importance.

Tom came to a smooth stop before he turned to face Dumbledore. "Mr. Dumbledore, I have let this go for quite some time but I feel that I must make this perfectly clear. I am not now, nor have I ever been 'your boy,' nor do I ever recall giving you leave to use my given name. Please address me as Headmaster or Lord Riddle-Slytherin as is proper."

Dumbledore's twinkle died a quick death as he began to glare at Tom again. The students in the room had never seen this side of their old Headmaster and were more than a little bit startled at his demeanor. Dumbledore clenched his teeth and fixed a parody of a smile on his face before he began to speak again.

"Do forgive me To…I mean…Lord Riddle. It is just that I cannot forget the image of you waiting to be sorted when you were just a nervous first year. That image will never leave me."

Tom was not the only one to note the false stop that Dumbledore used while speaking, nor was he the only one to note that he had chosen to call him Lord over the title of Headmaster or that he had left off part of his last name.

"Hn. Perhaps you should have the healers of St. Mungo's check you for Senility as I just told you that my last name was Riddle-Slytherin and you seem to have already forgotten." Tom's face remained blank at the look that came over Dumbledore's face. It was made all the better by the gasps that they could hear around the room. "Was there something that you needed Mr. Dumbledore?"

"Yes." Dumbledore looked around the room before he continued the conversation. "I have been having a bit of trouble with my packing. You see, things just keep disappearing from my trunks no matter how many times they are packed away. I fear that the castle itself will prevent me from being ready to leave by dinner tonight."

"I see. What are the items that refuse to stay packed?" Tom asked with one brow raised.

"Oh just the majority of my books, some of my trinkets and artifacts and of course my pensive."

"Ah, I think I know what the issue is then. You see, Mr. Dumbledore, when I took over the wards I activated one that ensures that Hogwarts property cannot be removed. I was quite surprised that it had even been deactivated as I know that library books that had not been returned would do so automatically while I was still a student under Headmaster Dippet. I must say, I really do suggest that check up with a Healer as it seems that you are not able to identify things that do not belong to you. I cannot begin to think of a reason that you would believe that a pensive that has been at this school since its founding belongs to you personally, after all."

Dumbledore had frozen as Tom spoke, painfully aware of the wide eyes that were looking at him in horrified fascination. He had practically been accused of trying to steal from Hogwarts in front of most of the staff and all of the students that had stayed for the Holidays. It took everything he had to keep himself from drawing his wand and hexing the young man standing in front of him, but he desperately wanted to keep as much of his reputation intact as he could.

"I see. Perhaps I will have a check-up after all then. I must say that these next five years will be a great time for me to rest before I take on extra duties. Why, I imagine that I will be much more relaxed at the end of these five years."

"Hn. Remember Mr. Dumbledore, you are to be off the grounds of Hogwarts by five o'clock this evening. I will ask that the elves help you to remember so that there is no further confusion." Tom smirked at the angry look that Dumbledore was trying to keep off of his face before he turned as swept out of the room with his robes billowing.

He still had a lot to do in preparation for the arrival of his followers and their families as well as making an agenda for the meeting he would be having with the teachers after dinner. If the meeting did not run terribly long, he wanted to go ahead and get started on organizing the mess that was currently the Headmaster's office. He was already dreading the amount of paperwork he would have to go though and interpret if the accounting records were anything to go by. He could foresee a great many late nights in his future.

Entering his rooms, he was brought out of his thoughts by a small body ramming into his legs.

"Papa!"

Tom smiled into his heir's unique eyes as he patted him on the head. "Hello Corvus. Welcome to Hogwarts."


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews, favorites and follows. I love getting email notifications and reading the reviews. I will try to PM with answers to any questions you may have, so please feel free to ask. I am working a bit of an odd schedule so I may take time to get back to you, but I will do my best.

I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter.

Happy Reading

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

{Parseltongue}

The rest of the day went quickly for Tom and his followers as they settled into their new rooms. Fenrir and Harry settled into Tom's rooms while the Malfoys and Lestranges settled into rooms on either side of the Founder Rooms. Barty Crouch Jr. also moved into smaller rooms a bit further down the hall. It was Tom's intention to have all of the rooms assigned to his followers to connect onto this previously unused hallway. He wanted to have easy access to those he trusted while keeping others from knowing where they were, and this hall was designed to be difficult to find.

Thankfully, the magic of the castle allowed for the addition of the new rooms at his request; something that would allow him and his followers to have their privacy as they held meetings away from the regular staff. The privacy would also allow the children a bit of freedom as they could roam the hallway to get to each other's quarters without the risk of coming across someone that Tom and his followers did not trust. All they had to do now was ensure that Corvus and his cousins knew that they should not leave the Founders Hallway without an adult present. It was a good thing that Corvus was old enough to understand that he was not to just ignore wards that were placed for his safety.

While his followers and heir were settling in, Tom was hard at work in his new office. One of the first things he did was send a letter off to Madam Marchbanks about the end of year tests. Once the letter had been sent he delved back into the ledgers for the school. Next to the ledgers he had a pile of parchment filled with notes he had taken in an effort to understand just what Dumbledore had been doing.

He had lists of everything that had be spent using funds from the school and while he had been mostly confused about the accounts, now that he had spent three days looking over them he was irritated. When five o'clock arrived, Tom placed his notes in a pile to be collected by Onyx when it was time for the staff meeting, made another request of the house elves and then went to join his followers in the hall. Seeing his Inner Circle with the exception of Severus who was still at Durmstrang, he smirked. "Shall we go to dinner?"

With him leading the way and Fenrir and Lucius taking up places slightly behind him with Corvus, Draco, and Xavier following behind with Narcissa and Bellatrix behind the children. At the back of the procession was Rodolphus, Rabastan and Barty.

Descending the main stairs, the procession came across Dumbledore having a quiet conversation right beside the front door with Minerva and Sirius. All three halted their conversation when Minerva glanced up and saw Tom and his followers descending the stairs with smirks on most of their faces. As soon as her eyes widened and her face paled, they gained the attention of Dumbledore and Sirius.

"Ah, Dumbledore, saying your final goodbyes I see." Tom's voice was betrayed none of the amusement he felt as he spoke. Tom slowly pulled a pocket watch out of his robe pocket and made a show of glancing down to check the time. "And here I was thinking I would be too late to see you off. But here we are and it is now five o' clock. I do hope that the elves were able to help you with your packing?"

The look on Dumbledore's face had the others biting their cheeks in an effort to keep their masks in place.

"Indeed. Though I don't see the point in removing my things from the castle as I will be returning when you show your true intentions." Minerva and Sirius both looked like they agreed with their leader.

"Hn, we will just have to see. Let us not delay however; I will have the elves make sure that you arrive at Hogsmeade with no problems. Have a good day, Mr. Dumbledore."

Dumbledore just glared at Tom for a moment before turning to Minerva to speak quietly. "I will speak with you soon. Keep heart, my dear." With one halfhearted twinkle, Dumbledore turned and walked slowly down the steps of Hogwarts and towards the gates.

While Sirius just turned a glare onto Tom and his followers, Minerva pressed a hand to her lips as though she were trying to keep herself from breaking down right there in the front hall. With one last smirk in their direction, Tom moved towards the doors to the Great Hall; his group following without another word.

Dinner was a fairly quiet affair for the most part. Most of the teachers were worrying about the meeting that would be following dinner and thus ended up keeping up a quiet conversation among themselves as they wondered as to wither or not the new adults at their table would be their replacements. Dumbledore's main followers just keep to themselves, more worried about their leader than their own positions.

The students that were still at the school were sending curious looks towards, not only the new adults at the table, but also towards the three young children that were sitting next to their new Headmaster.

As the deserts disappeared from the table, Bellatrix rose and turned to address Tom. "Lord Riddle-Slytherin, I will escort the children back to our rooms before joining you for the meeting."

"That is fine, I will see you in a few minutes then."

Bellatrix nodded and followed her son and his cousins as they made their way out of the Great Hall. Once they were back on the fifth floor she called for Onyx to lead them back to their rooms so that she would not lose her way in the unfamiliar hallways. After settling the boys into the new room that would be their classroom from now own so that they could be watched over by the familiar portraits that had been housed in the Black Manor portrait hall, she made were way to the teachers meeting room.

Tom nodded as she claimed a seat between her husband and brother-in-law before he began to speak.

"Before we get started with our staff meeting, I feel I must ask a question." He had everyone's attention. "Mr. Flitch, why are you here?"

Before the old man had a chance to speak, Minerva spoke up with her voice tight with anger. "I told him that you wished to see all Hogwarts employees after dinner." She was not the only follower of Dumbledore that was glaring at him now. Sirius, Hagrid and Flitch were glaring as well.

"And that is the problem, Professor McGonagall. Mr. Flitch is not, nor has he ever been, employed by Hogwarts." This comment had everyone freezing in their seats and turning their confused gazes towards Mr. Flitch, who was now the only one glaring at Tom. "Just what is it that you supposedly do here, Mr. Flitch?"

"I am the caretaker. I see to the castle." The old man finally spat.

"No, there is no one being paid as a caretaker, nor has there ever been a need for the position as it is the duties of the house elves to see to the castle. What is it that you do here?" Tom's voice was hard as he once again asked the duties of the old man before him.

After a quiet moment of hesitation where Mr. Flitch continued to glare at the new Headmaster, he finally spoke. "I do whatever Dumbledore asks me too. Run errands mostly...and look after the castle." The last was added petulantly.

"I see, and I suppose that it was Mr. Dumbledore that paid you your wages." When Flitch nodded he continued. "I understand, you were Mr. Dumbledore personal assistant. As such, your presence is not permitted at the school any longer. May I suggest you join Mr. Dumbledore so that you may work out your continued employment with him? I have no need for a personal assistant to run my errands after all."

"You can't do that, this is his home." Minerva's brogue was thick as she lashed out at this newest injustice. She pinched her lips closed when Tom turned his cold gaze in her direction.

"I think that you will find I can Professor McGonagall. Mr. Flitch has no business on school grounds now that his employer has been removed. He has one hour to vacate the premises. Mr. Flitch, I have already asked that the elves assist you in getting your things packed. They will see you off to Hogsmeade within the hour." His tone rang with finality.

While Minerva sat steaming in her seat, Mr. Flitch stomped out of the room while muttering under his breath. After a moment of silence Tom began to address the Hogwarts staff who looked confused.

"Now that that has been taken care of, I will get on with it. This is of course going to be the first of many meetings through the rest of the year. In addition to having meetings with all teachers present, each member of the staff will be meeting with me individually throughout the rest of the year as well." Tom looked at everyone for a moment before continuing.

"This year will continue as normally as possible, but there will be a few changes that will be taking place. The first major change that will be taking place is that all classes will be reviewed. I am sure that you have noticed the additional people that have joined us at dinner and now in this meeting. For those of you that are unfamiliar with them, let me introduce you to Lord Rodolphus Lestrange and his wife Bellatrix, Rabastan Lestrange, Lord Lucius Malfoy and his wife Narcissa, and of course Barty Crouch and Lord Fenton Grey."

"Please continue your classes as you would be teaching them as normally as possible. They will be merely observing at this point. They will also be joining you during your office hours and for those of you that are Heads of House to one of the houses, they will be joining you on your house meetings. I will also be monitoring classes and office hours when I have a chance. Any questions so far?"

It was Filius Flitwick that spoke. "Will those doing the monitoring be the only ones that are able to suggest changes to classes, or will we be able to make suggestions during our individual meetings?" A few of the teachers nodded as they also wanted to know if they would have any say in changes being made to their own classes. A few of them had made requests before only for Dumbledore to tell them that no changes were needed.

"If there is something that you wish to bring to my attention during our individual meetings, then that is more than fine. If there is something that you have concerns over that cannot wait for a meeting, you may of course bring it to my attention. Anyone else?"

"Are your people here going to be our replacements at the end of the year?" Sirius asked while shooting a glare towards his cousin across the table. His obvious annoyance only grew when she ignored him. He had always hated his family and now was furious at the thought that his cousin could take his job.

"No one will be losing their positions unless they are not doing their jobs. It is my hope that they will be teaching some of the new classes that will be introduced at the beginning of next year." Tom held up a hand when it looked like he was going to be interrupted. "Those classes are still being considered so we will not be discussing them at this time. You will be informed of new classes that will be offered by the end of the year or perhaps after summer break has begun."

"Another thing that I wished to speak to you about was confirmed with Madam Marchbanks earlier today. All of the end of year exams will be extended to include the questions that would be asked on the International Standard NEWTs, OWLs and WOMBATs. Students will be receiving International Standard and British Standard scores. This will be a period of transition, but it is my hope that we will be only providing International Standard scores by the end of a two year period."

"I am sorry." Pomona Sprout spoke quietly as she gained Tom's attention. "Will changing over to International Standards cause problems for our Owl and NEWT students? How different are the standards?"

"That is a great question. It will be quite a transition and some of our students will be finding themselves facing quite a challenge. Right now, the British Standard of education is roughly almost two years behind the International Standard. It is for this reason that we will be having more extensive exams at the end of the year. Not only will they be the student's final scores for the year, but they will also act as placement tests for their classes next year. Those that are taking their owls this year may gain a score for their British Standard OWL, but that will not mean that they will be placed in a NEWT level class for that subject."

"How will they graduate on time with their NEWTs if they are not allowed to study?" Minerva asked with wide eyes.

"They will be placed in a class for their skill and knowledge level and they will be taught the information they need to learn to meet international standards. Those students that have already passed the British Standard OWLs will be allowed to remain at Hogwarts for two additional years and those that are going to be taking their OWLs should have enough time to catch up if they put in the proper effort."

"Some of the students will not be able to afford two additional years, Headmaster." Horace Slughorn watched his former student with knowing eyes, already knowing that the brilliant man would have an answer to an issue he knew the others had on their minds. Tom had always been one of his favorite students.

"The students will be allowed continue their studies at no cost due to their tuition having been raised without need. Each student that requires additional time for their studies will be given an accounting of how much tuition can still be used to pay for additional classes. I will be adjusting the tuition for those in younger years so that they will have discounts for next years tuition."

"What? I thought that Hogwarts was having issues with money. Every time I asked for new brooms, the Head…Mr. Dumbledore told me that there was no money for new supplies." Rolonda Hooch looked confused as did a few of the other teachers that had asked for supplies over the years.

"Hn. Well I can tell you that the money is there. I have spent three days going through the accounts and yesterday I sent an inquiry off to Gringotts. I saw more than a few requests for supplies along with notations that they had been denied, only to see the accounts at Gringotts growing. From what I can understand from the letter they sent, the reason Hogwarts has not been getting supplies is that Mr. Dumbledore continued to insist that the Goblins allow him to take Galleons directly from the school vaults instead of having businesses bill the vaults directly. I could not tell you his reasoning, but every time he was denied access to the vaults he denied all requests instead of following protocol for school purchases."

"That doesn't make since." One of the teachers muttered.

"Like I said, I cannot tell you his reasoning, the only thing I can tell you is that the money is there and future requests will be given full consideration, also there will be no problems with the additional classes and teachers that will be added next year. While classes were cut and supplies were being denied the tuition was never cut back. It was actually raised a few times. I will do everything that I can to ensure that our students are getting the education that they are paying for. I don't want to keep you much longer tonight." Tom looked down at his pocket watch before looking back up. "Are there any other questions I can answer tonight?"

Horace leaned forward with his next question. "Getting back to the issue of the end-of-term exams, you said that they would be used as placement tests for classes next year…can you explain that a bit more Headmaster?" He had always expected great things from his former student and couldn't wait to see what he had planned for the school.

"Of course. All students will be placed into classes based on where they stand in their studies instead of simply taking classes with their year mates from this point on. Even if we are able to admit more students than normal to the school, class sizes will be reduced. Hogwarts was designed to house many more students than it is currently educating; in fact, we are only operating with about a fourth of the amount of students we should be for first though seventh years. As to the new layout or the classes, I will use the core classes as an example as to the layout we will use next year. Coincidently, this is the layout that most of the International Standard schools have adopted aside from a few."

"As of right now, each subject has two classes per year group with everyone from the same year learning the same information. Instead of this layout, students will be taking classes geared towards their skill and knowledge level. For instance, Transfiguration will now have levels such as Transfiguration 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, and so forth up to levels 7.1, 7.2. Obviously the first number refers year level, though a student in second year can take Transfiguration 3.2 if they display the knowledge and sill for the class. International Standard OWLs are taken though 5.1 and 2 and NEWTs are taken though 7.1 and 2. Having each year level divided into two groups allows for those that are able to advance at a faster rate to do so while those that need more time for the basics to have that time to put forth the best effort they can to achieve a passing grade. Classes ending in .1 will be for students that generally achieve an Acceptable or lower and the syllabus will be geared toward ensuring that those students can get Acceptable on their end-of-term tests. Classes ending in .2 will be geared towards those students that are able to maintain Exceeds Expectations and Outstanding's. They will have the chance to learn more spells as they will be working at an accelerated rate, and that should allow for more time to be spent on spell work. No student should progress into the next class without a passing grade. If a student does not achieve at least an Acceptable, they will remain in the same class until they do so. There is no reason for a student with a failing grade in first year to advance to the second year classes when they do not have the skill or knowledge to keep up with the course work."

"It is also my intention to eventually reopen Hogwarts to BEAST studies, which would cover 8.1, 8.2, 9.1, and 9.2 classes. As you all should know from your own educations, once the BEASTs have been taken, students are then eligible for Apprenticeships. Something that Hogwarts once offered."

"And just who will be preparing these students for the Brutally Exhausting, Atrocious Skills Test? It seems that you expect us to give up all of our free time to teach yet more classes." Minerva looked as though she was ready to spit nails. "Some of us already have full schedules."

"I fully expect each core class to eventually have at least three teachers, if not more as we accept more children. As of right now there are no teachers here that have more than twelve classes a week since the NEWT classes are combined. I have checked your own schedule for instance and you have twelve classes a week. Three days a week you have classes for four hours and then classes for six hours two days a week. You can certainly expect to spend quite a bit more time in the classroom as the contract for a teaching position at Hogwarts specifies that you teach classes for seven hours a day at minimum on weekdays, just as students should be having classes for at least seven hours each day on weekdays if not more. That does not even take into account any special classes that could be offered on weekends. While you can certainly expect help with the workload for your respective classes, you should go ahead and expect that you will be spending more time teaching than you do currently."

"I don't have time for more classes. I have other duties to see to." Minerva glared at Tom as she spoke.

"I think that you will see some time opening up in your schedule as you are no longer going to be filling the post of Deputy Headmistress. I was actually going to speak to you about that after the meeting, but it seems prudent to mention it now as you seem to doubt your availability to the students. Your current employee contract for the position of Head of House of Gryffindor and Transfiguration Professor actually states that you are unable to hold another position. I am unsure how it is that you came to the position of Deputy Headmistress in the first place. That should open your schedule so that you have more time for your teaching and Head of House duties." Tom never changed his tone when speaking though he did have to hide his smirk when Minerva paled.

Hagrid looked confused as he looked from the pale Minerva to the stoic new Headmaster. His eyes widened when Tom turned his attention towards him.

"Hagrid, before I forget, I will be meeting with you later this week and I will need for you to have an inventory of all creatures and beings residing within the Forbidden Forrest and the within the lake. Could you have that ready by the end of the week?" Tom raised his brow in question.

"I could." Hagrid spoke hesitantly. "Why would you be needing to know everything in the forest?" He looked genuinely confused at the request.

"I will need to know as the wards are currently indicating that there are dangerous creatures within both the forest and lake. The inventory will allow me to provide accurate information when I contact the Department of Magical Creatures for their removal."

"Their aint nothing in that forest that is dangerous." Hagrid was puffing out his cheeks as he looked at Tom. He sounded as though he did not know wither to be angry of afraid for his creatures. "I have been looking after the forest for a long time now and aint no one ever been hurt."

"Be that as it may, I will need that list by the end of the week." Tom turned his attention back to the rest of the staff without waiting to see if the half-giant had anything else to say. "Now, were there any other pressing matters that we would need to speak about tonight?" He looked around and nodded when the Charms Professor raised his hand. "Yes, Professor Flitwick?"

"I was wondering if anything could be done about the History class. My students are always upset about taking their end-of-term tests in that class and with the changeover to International Standard, I know that they will be even more worried. I doubt that any of the students will be able to pass a basic History exam unless they have been studying independently."

Tom nodded. "I requested that Madam Marchbanks send me a recommendation for a History Professor this morning. She is currently asking around for someone that will be able to help the students and I hope to have someone installed by the end of two weeks. Unfortunately, Professor Binns has not been Hogwarts official History Teacher since he died. The contract with Hogwarts was dissolved at the time of his death. We will be moving the class to a different room within the castle until such time as he moves on or is banished. At the time of his death, Mr. Dumbledore placed himself as History Professor and did not inform anyone of the change. As there are no records showing he has ever taught History at Hogwarts, the Goblins will be ensuring that all wages due to the position of History Professor will be returned.

Tom looked around the room feeling quite pleased that even his most staunch supporters were currently looking devastated at this new information. There was simply no reason that they could think of that would explain why he would collect the wages of a position he did not hold. As he dismissed the teachers from the meeting, Tom looked around and saw his followers chatting amicably with a few of the teachers that had remained behind to chat. All in all, this was a great day. He smirked as he left to find his way back to his rooms.


End file.
